The Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs meet in game two of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in NHL action from Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. Let’s dive into the odds, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
Toronto is a -180 home favorite while Florida is a +160 road underdog. The total for this game is set at 6.5 goals.
Matchup History
Florida’s 4-2 win in game one made it four straight meetings without back-to-back winners in this head-to-head matchup.
Trends
Florida is 8-2 in their last 10 games following a win and 28-13 in their last 41 Thursday games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Toronto is 59-27 in their last 86 home games and 7-0 in their last 7 games played on one day’s rest while the under is 7-2 in their last 9 Thursday games.
Pick
I’m backing Toronto here. We saw this same spot in game one of the Tampa series. Toronto came in, the fans were pumped and the moment just got too big as Toronto fell flat. How did they respond? They walloped Tampa Bay in game two and went on to win the series. The moment was too big for the Leafs and they just came out flat while Florida had the chance to take momentum and capitalized on it. I think Toronto bounces back here. Give me the Leafs.