The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to remain perfect under new head coach Sheldon Keefe when they continue a six-game road trip Saturday by taking on the Colorado Avalanche as +105 underdogs on the NHL betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto snapped a six-game losing streak in Keefe’s debut behind the bench on Thursday night, posting a 3-1 win in Arizona to climb back into fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings going into Saturday night’s matchup at the Pepsi Center.
The Maple Leafs came within 17 seconds of their first shutout of the season in their win over the Coyotes as a -110 wager, reversing a trend that had seen them surrender an average of 4.5 goals per game during their six-game swoon.
The team still has work to do, though, as they enter the weekend’s action trailing the Philadelphia Flyers by two points in the race for the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference. However, Toronto has remained resilient on the Stanley Cup odds, where they sit just short of the favourites as a +1400 wager on those futures.
The Avalanche return home after closing out a five-game road trip with a 3-2 loss in Minnesota as +105 underdogs. Colorado has won five of its past seven games despite coping with a rash of injuries that have sidelined Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog indefinitely. The Avalanche have also taken three of four overall from Toronto, but have been outscored by a 21-10 margin while losing three of four on home ice to the Maple Leafs.
While the Maple Leafs have found a new lease on life, the Calgary Flames continue to search for an end to their dismal six-game losing streak as they visit the Flyers on Saturday afternoon as +100 underdogs on the betting lines.
The Flames have been totally dominated during their current skid, which has featured three shutout losses capped by a 5-0 blowout defeat in St. Louis as +120 underdogs on Thursday night. Calgary has been outscored by a 23-5 margin during its slide, extending a steady run for the UNDER in totals betting, which has gone 5-0-1 over the team’s past six games according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
The Flyers return home as -120 betting favourites after topping Carolina in a 5-3 win on Thursday night, but have scored just four total goals in consecutive losses on home ice to the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals.
Elsewhere on the Saturday NHL odds, the Vancouver Canucks visit the Washington Capitals as +150 underdogs, and the Winnipeg Jets host the Columbus Blue Jackets as -160 chalk, while the Montreal Canadiens take on the visiting New York Rangers as -195 betting favourites.
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