Maple Leafs vs Lightning Odds: Eastern Conference Playoff Rematch on Saturday Night
Eastern Conference Playoff Rematch on Saturday Night.
The Second Weekend of National Hockey League action
Gets underway on Saturday night with an Atlantic Division showdown as the Toronto Maple Leafs travel down to the Sunshine State to do battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is a rematch of last spring’s First Round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Maple Leafs ended a 19-year drought and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, while the Bolts were bounced from the opening round for the first time since 2019.
Let’s analyze and break down some key factors for this Eastern Conference clash in the Maple Leafs vs Lightning Odds betting preview for Saturday night.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning 
(2-2-0, 4 points) | (2-2-1, 5 points)
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, Florida
Day/Time: Saturday, October 21st, 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT
Streaming: ESPN+ and Live Sports Stream
Thunderstruck in Tampa?
The Tampa Bay Lightning have had a rough start to the 2023-24 National Hockey League regular season, with a 2-2-1 record, things haven’t been super easy without All-Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes. As he recovers for another 4-6 weeks from his back surgery, the Bolts have to roll with journeyman Jonas Johansson and minor-league fixture Matt Tompkins. Because of their Salary Cap issues and not having enough free money at their disposal, the Lightning can’t make an upgrade through NHL Free Agents.
Thursday night, Tampa Bay held on for a 4-3 home victory over the Vancouver Canucks, with the aforementioned Johansson making 26 saves on 29 shots faced for his second win as a member of the Lightning. Forward Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals and captain Steven Stamkos recorded an assist in his first game back in the lineup after dealing with a minor injury.
Now, the Bolts must look to get ready to deal with a powerful Toronto offense that they couldn’t stop in six games of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, even with Vasilevskiy in goal. This will be a much more challenging task with a weaker club and less depth than a few months ago.
Maple Leafs Playing Loose
The Toronto Maple Leafs head into this contest off of a very disappointing 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, dropping their record to two wins and two losses in the early stage of their regular season. Forward Mitch Marner scored the only goal of the game for the Leafs, as star sniper Auston Matthews, who started off the campaign with back-to-back Hat Tricks, was held scoreless in the contest.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves on 23 shots faced, and their penalty-killing unit was solid, keeping the Panthers off the board on four man-advantage attempts, but Florida also played well on Special Teams by negating the Maple Leafs’ attack, holding them to one Power-Play tally in five chances.
Toronto will have to get their offense in gear against a Tampa Bay club that is way more vulnerable now then they have been in recent years, and as the club that eliminated the Bolts from the postseason this past Spring, I would expect a confident bunch on the road looking to avenge a pair of tough losses earlier in the week.
Lightning vs Maple Leafs Betting Odds
Concluding the Lightning vs Maple Leafs Odds Betting Preview: Sportsbooks have the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs odds to win as short favorites against the hosting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, priced in the range around -120 to -130. This is the fifth time this NHL season where the Maple Leafs are favorites, while the Lightning have now been underdogs in three of their first six contests to start the year.
The total for this contest is set at 6.5 goals shaded slightly to the Over around the pick’em range between -110 to -120. Tampa Bay has gone Over the Total in 11 of their last 16 games dating back to last season, with the total going Over in ten of their last eleven meetings at home with Toronto. The Maple Leafs have gone Under the total in three of their first five games to start the regular season.
Check out all the updated Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning NHL schedule, NHL odds, lineups, NHL standings, futures odds, team stats, recent pro hockey news and betting tips, right here at Point Spreads.
