In their second head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs meet at Scotiabank Arena. This Eastern Conference matchup gets started at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 29 and it’ll be televised live on NBC Sports Washington.
Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs Odds
Toronto (-120) is being picked as the favorite over Washington (+100) and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals (-120 to bet the over, +100 for the under).
Washington is 8-5 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 2.2 units this season. Through 13 regular season matches, nine of its games have gone over the total, while four have gone under and none have pushed. The Caps are 6-2 SU as an away team in 2019-20.
Washington has scored on 25.0 percent of its power play opportunities thus far. That’s a noticeable improvement from last year, when it was ranked ninth in the NHL by scoring on 21.2 percent of its extra-man opportunities. Its penalty kill has also gotten stronger year-over-year, as the team has gone from successfully defending 79.7 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 19th overall last season) to 84.8 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, Washington has been whistled for penalties 4.1 times per game during the 2019-20 season. Last year, that figure was the mark in the league at 3.8 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.0 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 9.6 minutes per matchup this year.
Sporting a .886 save percentage and 26.0 saves per game, Braden Holtby (4-5-3) has been the best option in goal for Washington this year. If head coach Todd Reirden decides to rest him, however, the team could go with Ilya Samsonov (4-1), who has a .913 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average this year.
John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin will both lead the way for the visiting Capitals. Carlson (21 points) has tallied five goals and 16 assists, and has recorded two or more points in seven different games. Ovechkin has nine goals and five assists to his credit (and has logged a point in 10 games).
On the other side of the ice, Toronto is 6-7 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 13 regular season contests, eight of its games have gone over the total, while four have gone under and just one has pushed. This year, the team’s 4-4 SU at home.
Toronto has converted on 21.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 24th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.0 percent of all opponent power plays.
Toronto players have been penalized only 3.4 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 2.7, the lowest mark in the league. After serving an average of 6.1 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 6.8 minutes per outing this year.
Frederik Andersen has stopped 27.1 shots per game as the top selection in goal for Toronto. Andersen has six wins, three losses, and one overtime loss and has maintained a fairly-weak .904 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average this year.
The Leafs will be led on offense by Mitchell Marner (three goals, 12 assists).
Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs Betting Predictions
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Maple Leafs, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- For both of these teams, the over has hit in three of their past five matchups.
- Washington skaters notched 24.2 hits per game last season, while the Maple Leafs posted 18.8 hits per matchup.
