Maple Leafs Closing Gap on Panthers in Atlantic Division Title Race
The Toronto Maple Leafs are tied with the Florida Panthers for the top seed in the Atlantic Division with a glaring value available for the taking
The Atlantic Division is turning out to be a dogfight with three serious contenders for the top seed. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers remain the leaders but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning aren't far behind. With 14 games remaining for each team, if moves are going to be made it's soon as the window is closing on some current values presented.
A value that will quickly go away is the Leafs to win the Atlantic at +210 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook. These odds quickly fluctuate with them being as high as +400 within the last few days as the Leafs are starting to heat up once again. Florida and Toronto will face off two more times to end off the season with each game playing a critical role as the two teams are tied with identical 41-24-3 records.
As the Panthers have failed to solidify a solid lead over the Buds, the remaining schedules have started to form a larger gap in terms of the level of competition each team will face to close out the season. In our last post about the divisional race, Toronto and Florida were on opposite ends in terms of remaining strength of schedule and this has only improved for the Leafs as they now sit with the third-easiest remaining schedule while the Cats have the 19th-easiest or in other words, the 14th-hardest.
Another point that helps Toronto's case is their young goaltender is getting hot once again. Joseph Woll, a 26-year-old Missori native, has been electric over his last three starts with an undefeated record, a 1.95 goals against average and .939 save percentage.
It is a very small sample size but we have seen a similar hot streak to this before like when Woll ended last season with a 2-1 record and just a pair of goals allowed over three first round matchups versus the Boston Bruins. He's shown that he can be a gamer when the Buds need him to be and if they want to win the division title, he will need to play a factor which I believe he can be.
The odds and trends are all pointing towards Toronto and the tide is quickly turning so you don't want to miss out. If you even wait until after Thursday's matchup versus the New York Rangers, they may take the division lead and you may be too late.