The NHL Edge: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Winnipeg Jets
Toronto and Winnipeg meet for the second time in three nights after the Maple Leafs took down the Jets 3-1 on Wednesday. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner both picked up two points in the win, and Jack Campbell continued his stellar play improving to 7-0 on the season with an absurd .948 save percentage.
Expect Campbell to be in the crease once again Friday night since it’s not a back-to-back for the Leafs. The Jets will likely counter with their Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes and really need the points here to keep pace with Toronto in the North Division. Winnipeg trails the season series 3-2 after dropping their last contest to Toronto and now sits three points behind the Buds in the division.
The Jets have been good at home this season, going 10-6-1, so playing in the friendly confines and needing to keep up with the Leafs could be reasons enough to lean toward their moneyline at the FanDuel Sportsbook. Winnipeg holds some serious value at +124 against the North leaders.
On the other side, there is also some value with the Maple Leafs on the puck line. Toronto sits with a juicy +172 to cover -1.5 goals against their neighbors one province over. Sure, it’s tough to predict a two-goal victory, but the two of the three Leafs victories over Winnipeg game by multiple goals this season. If this number stays above +160, it holds enough value to take a shot at it.
It feels like just a matter of time before Toronto’s high-scoring offense starts scoring in bunches again, but it may be tough to start that trend against Hellebuyck and the Jets. Winnipeg’s netminder has played well against the Leafs, and we know how red-hot Jack Campbell has been for Toronto. Add those things up, and it seems to equate to another low-scoring affair despite these teams boasting high-octane offenses. Thankfully the reputation of each team’s offense gives us a chunky 6.5 total to work with. The under seems like the smart play here, and at -122, the number is pretty reasonable. Ride the under as long as the juice doesn’t rise above -140.