Welcome back to the return of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today’s featured game is the Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions in the coming days as the 2024-25 season continues.
NHL Predictions
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
TV: NHL Network, FDS-SUN; Prime Video
Our only game of the night is an Atlantic Division matchup between the Lightning and Maple Leafs. Both teams have three wins on the season and both teams are coming off loses. The Lightning were beaten 5-4 by the Ottawa Senators last time out while the Leafs were defeated, 4-1, by the New York Rangers.
These two clubs have plenty of offensive firepower with a number of talented skaters. However, defence may be the reason one team walks away with a victory on Monday.
Since this is the only game of the night, we can take a deep dive into the matchup on this round of NHL predictions.
The Tampa Bay Story
Tampa Bay suffered its first loss of the season in Ottawa. Nikita Kucherov has picked up right where he left off from last season. The Russian leads the team in goals (7) and assists (9) so far this campaign. Jake Guentzel is second in points with five and a number of players are tied for third with four.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is 3-1 with a 2.52 goals-against-average and a .901 save percentage. It’s not the typical Vasilevskiy numbers, but he’s done enough to get the Lightning to where they need to go. Vasilevskiy is the expected starter, but always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy goalie. Tampa Bay will be playing the next night against the New Jersey Devils, so keep an eye on things.
The Toronto Story
Toronto is coming off a loss to New York at home on Hockey Night in Canada. It was the Leafs’ first loss since dropping the season-opener to the Montreal Canadiens. Mitch Marner and Max Domi each lead the team in points with. However, William Nylander has the lead in goals with three on the Leafs.
Anthony Stolarz will likely draw the start for the Maple Leafs in this one. He’s played well despite having a 2-2 record this season. The 30-year-old has a 1.97 GAA and .937 save percentage this campaign. Toronto will also be in the first game of a back-to-back situation on Monday. The Leafs will be playing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Prediction
There are a lot of similarities between the two teams. Tampa Bay and Toronto both have a lot of firepower and some good goaltedning. However, we like Vasilevskiy just a little bit better than Stolarz at this point.
Tampa should bounce back in this one and get a victory in the second part of the Ontario portion of their road swing.
Prediction: Lightning win 4-2.
Prop Bets of the Night
We close out NHL predictions with our usual round of prop bets. Let’s start off on the Tampa Bay side with them coming in as an underdog. Fanduel is giving them +126 to win the game. For a player prop, Kucherov is at +1100 for first goalscorer on FanDuel.
We’ll move onto the Toronto side and both the over and under of 6.5 is getting -110 from both sides. On the player prop front, Auston Matthews is getting +650 on a number of sportsbooks for first-time scorer.
Main photo by: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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