Jonathan Drouin looks to keep career-best pace against Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey’s most popular team has been hot lately with wins in four of their last five as the Buds return home to take on the third-overall Colorado Avalanche, who look to continue their winning ways with 11 wins in their last 15 games. It should be a high-profile matchup with some of hockey's biggest stars on the ice. Auston Matthews will need to play a complete two-way game if he wants to keep up with Nathan Mackinnon, who’s been the hottest player in the league with 14 goals and 38 points in their last 20 games. This could be his night as the Leafs average the fifth-most goals per home game with 3.53 a game this season.
The Leafs will need to tighten up defensively or fight fire with fire, which either way will make this the game to watch. If you want to get in on the Hockey Night in Canada action and make it a Saturday to remember, here is our best bet for the Leafs Avalanche matchup.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Please gamble responsibly.
Pick: Jonathan Drouin over 0.5 points (-140)
He has certainly not had the most dazzling year with nine goals and 22 points in 40 games this season. However, his chances to get a point go up drastically when he plays with Mackinnon and winger Mikko Rantanen during the absence of Valeri Nichushkin, who will be out day-to-day with an illness. Drouin will get a massive bump in production that Nichushkin saw that led him to 22 goals this season with all but four goals assisted by Mackinnon or Rantanen. They will give Drouin a huge boost and will help him stay on pace for his best season of his career.
The Leafs will help make sure the Avs don’t take their foot off the gas as they too have a great offense with the fourth-best goals per home game average of 3.79 per game that make every home game a high-scoring affair when that is coupled with their bad home defense. Expect both teams to put up big scores and make it the game of the night.