Free NHL Picks Today: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens 4/8/23

Free NHL Picks Today: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens 4/8/23
Sat 8th April 2023

The Montreal Canadiens (31-42-6) travel to face the Toronto Maple Leafs (46-21-11) at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.Montreal is coming off a high-scoring 6-2 win over the Capitals on Thursday, snapping a streak of four defeats in a row. The Canadiens committed six penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal.

Joel Armia was the top goalscorer for the Canadiens with a hat trick. Sam Montembeault had 24 saves in the win.Toronto fell 2-1 (OT) to the Bruins on Thursday. Sam Lafferty netted the only goal for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov had a great performance with 31 saves (.939%) in the loss.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Canadiens have won two of the three games between the teams this season, although the Maple Leafs were 5-1 victors in their most recent meeting in February. Four players had two points for Toronto. Josh Anderson scored Montreal’s only goal. Joseph Woll got the win, saving 29 of 30 shots (.966%).

FACING OFF

Montreal is averaging 2.78 goals per game for the season, 26th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Maple Leafs team that is allowing 2.73 goals a game (9th). Meanwhile, Toronto has found the net 3.36 times a game on average, ninth in the league, and the Canadiens are allowing opponents to score 3.66 goals per game (29th).Montreal averages fewer shots/game (27.4) than most teams in the league, ranking 30th. Toronto’s average of 32.2 attempts ranks 12th.

The Canadiens’ 16.67% power play percentage is the fifth-lowest in the league, while the Maple Leafs rank sixth with a conversion rate of 24.57%. Montreal has been equally unimpressive at penalty killing, as the away team owns the league’s fifth-lowest PK% at 73.26%. Toronto’s 81.47% ranks 11th in the NHL.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 63 points this season, Nick Suzuki is the top skater for the Canadiens. He has 24 goals and 39 assists in 79 games. In the net, Montembeault (16-16-3) is Montreal’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 3.26 GAA and a .906% save percentage. Jake Allen (15-24-3) leads the Canadiens in games played in goal.

He has a GAA of 3.55 and a save percentage of .891%.Mitchell Marner leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 95 points. He has 28 goals and 67 assists (5th). Samsonov (25-10-5) has the best goals against average for Toronto at 2.40. He has a save percentage of .916%.

HOME AND AWAY

Montreal is 14-22-3 away from Bell Centre this season. Toronto is 26-8-6 at home this season.

SportsTips’ NHL Pick:

Toronto Maple Leafs -2.5 (+110)

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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.

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