San Jose Sharks at Toronto Maple Leafs

The Line : Sharks -160 Leafs +140  Over/Under 5.5

NHL Hockey : Monday February 8, 2010 7:00 PM ET

San Jose has been playing consistently excellent hockey all season and they come into Toronto to face the retooled Maple Leafs tonight at the Air Canada center.

Toronto has rebuilt the roster lately, adding goaltender J.S. Giguere from Anaheim and also rugged defensemen, Dion Phaneuf from Calgary.  So far, the moves look good and Toronto may have stabilized their goaltending situation for years to come.  Giguere has started twice for the Leafs and has posted shutouts in both of those contests.  The change of scenery could be just what the doctor ordered to revitalize Giguere’s career.  Let’s not forget that this guy won a Conn Smyth trophy only a couple of years ago for Anaheim.  Prior to the moves, Toronto had struggled mightily losing six in a row.  At this point, Toronto sits dead last in the eastern conference playoff race, tied with Carolina for fewest points at 49.  The recent death of GM Brian Burke’s son in an unfortunate auto accident could continue to serve as inspiration for the new-look Maple Leafs.  Toronto’s defense is rated dead last in the league yielding 3.4 goals per game.  Granted, that is pre-Giguere/Phaneuf but can two guys really turn a porous D into a strong D?  That remains to be seen.  Two nice games do not a season make in this scribe’s book.

San Jose continues to roll along as they do during every recent regular season.  The Sharks sit alone atop the Western conference as the top team with 85 points and they are the second best scoring team in the NHL.  The Sharks have won 8 of their last 10 games and have been held to less than 4 goals in only three games over that span.  I really don’t see Giguere shutting out these Sharks tonight as they boast the #3 power play in the league clicking at an impressive 23.3% with the man-advantage.  The Sharks have a stingy defense but if Toronto can get 2 goals tonight, I see the over being in serious play tonight.  Look for the Sharks to win this one 5-2 in regulation.  But, I do hesitate to load up on San Jose to win on the road, playing against a possibly-inspired Toronto Maple Leaf club.  Instead, let’s hedge our bets with a nice “over” bet tonight.  Both of these teams are net over teams for the season, so let’s not over think it.  Awesome Sharks offense vs. terrible Maple Leafs defense should yield some scoring tonight.  Let’s root for the scorers to light things up tonight.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment