Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets are both top four in offence since mid-December and have six or more goals in ten of their last 13 matchups
Wednesday night is the ultimate opportunity for NHL fans, with a four-game slate of thrilling matchups that fans eagerly anticipate. The game that sticks out is the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against one of the best stories this season in the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For bettors, this matchup provides a chance to capitalize on some of our recent strong trends, like our 19-7 record on our last 26 picks and our 16-8 record on our last 24 player prop picks.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Blue Jackets Maple Leafs Over 6.0 goals (-120), Auston Matthews anytime goal (-130), Kirill Marchenko Over 0.5 points (-170)
The Leafs started off the season with an elite defensive structure but have since started to experience hardships with it and has resulted in some dramatic games for their fans at home. Toronto has totalled six or more goals in 12 of their last 18 home games, including a run of three straight heading into Wednesday.
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This trend should continue as the Leafs and Blue Jackets are both top four in offence since mid-December with goals per game averages at 3.53 and 3.31 respectively. Columbus and Toronto also have a history of high-scoring affairs with six or more goals in ten of their last 13 matchups and eight or more goals in three of their last four matchups.
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Toronto will likely get on the board with the help of either William Nylander or captain Auston Matthews as they both ride goal streaks of three or more games and have excellent track records in this matchup. Nylander has four goals in his last six games in this matchup while Matthews has ten goals in his last eight games versus Columbus.
Either one is a great choice but if you can't decide we can at least rely on the Buds getting on the board for at least four goals like they have in four of their last five matchups versus the Blue Jackets. Columbus expected starter Elvis Merzlikins has two wins and a 4.99 goals against average in five starts versus Toronto.
On the Columbus side, we can expect a response on offence from the red hot Kirill Marchenko. The 24-year-old Russian winger has broken out this season with 50 points in 47 games this season and has continued to stay hot as of late with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in his last 16 games.
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He scored a goal and an assist in the Blue Jackets 6-2 win over the Leafs earlier this season and is listed at a steal with -170 odds against a bleeding Leafs defence with a 3.55 goals against average in their last 11 home games.