{"id":463552,"date":"2025-03-02T08:40:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T13:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=463552"},"modified":"2025-03-02T08:40:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T13:40:44","slug":"nhl-predictions-maple-leafs-vs-penguins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/02\/nhl-predictions-maple-leafs-vs-penguins\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: March 2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs Toronto Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> wrap up a back-to-back taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>. Welcome back to NHL Predictions<\/a> here on\u00a0Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In today\u2019s matchup, the Penguins look to bounce back from their loss against the Bruins, while the Maple Leafs aim to strengthen their hold in the Atlantic Division race.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head:<\/strong>\u00a0Maple Leafs 1-1 Penguins<\/h4>\n

Time: <\/strong>1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> TSN4; TNT; TruTV; Max<\/p>\n

This will be the third meeting between these teams this season. The Maple Leafs took the first game by a score of 5-2. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh won 4-2 over the Leafs in the second contest. With the trade deadline less than a week away, the Penguins will be looking to show off some potential trade pieces. Meanwhile, Toronto will be analyzing holes in their lineup to see where they can add for a Stanley Cup push.<\/p>\n

The Penguins Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n

With a 24-28-9 record, the Pittsburgh Penguins are sixth-last in the league. The Sidney Crosby<\/a> era is coming to a close, and with that, players are expected to be moved off the roster for future assets. Forwards Rickard Rakell<\/a> and Anthony Beauvillier<\/a> have been rumoured as players that could be dealt. Both wingers scored in the 3-2 loss to Boston, and further production could help to increase their value.<\/p>\n

The team is led in scoring by captain Crosby, with 62 points in 60 games. Rakell trails behind him, having scored 50 points with 26 goals in 61 games. Rakell is a significant trade piece that could net the Penguins a large return. Another player that Pittsburgh has been rumoured to be willing to deal away is Erik Karlsson<\/a>. The offensive defenceman has scored 43 points in 62 games on a weak Penguins team. Buyers could look at this contest to see if Karlsson would be a worthy add ahead of Friday\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 36-20-2, trying to win the top spot in the Atlantic Division from the Florida Panthers<\/a>. This would be the first Atlantic Division title for the Leafs in the Auston Matthews<\/a> era. In order to achieve this, however, they would need to beat out the Panthers, who have 75 points. The Leafs have 74 points with two games in hand, meaning this game has significant implications for the Leafs\u2019 chances to win the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Upcoming superstar forward Mitch Marner<\/a> leads Toronto in scoring. He\u2019s scoring at an incredible pace with 74 points in 58 games. The other members of the \u201cCore Four\u201d round out the top four in scoring in Toronto. Matthews will be a player to watch, with 49 points in 44 games, he will look to ramp up his production going into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Penguins are moving into full-on rebuild territory. While they\u2019ll be showing off trade assets, the Maple Leafs need this win to game some points on Florida while keeping games in hand.<\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0Maple Leafs win 5-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bet for the Night<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We close out NHL predictions with some prop bets.\u00a0FanDuel\u2019s Total Goals Over 6 (-110)<\/strong> \u2013 The Penguins have allowed the second-most goals in the league, while the Maple Leafs have scored the 11th-most. Expect a high-scoring game between these hockey clubs.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Penguins wrap up a back-to-back taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on\u00a0Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In today\u2019s matchup, the Penguins look to bounce back from their loss against the Bruins, while the Maple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":457683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,4548,12,4524,18],"tags":[3721,228,550,6123,724,140,6062],"class_list":["post-463552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-penguins","category-nhl-predictions","category-leafs","tag-anthony-beauvillier","tag-auston-matthews","tag-erik-karlsson","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions","tag-rickard-rakell","tag-sidney-crosby","tag-toronto-maple-leafs-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463552"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463592,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463552\/revisions\/463592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}