The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a tough loss Wednesday to begin the season and are right back at it for their home opener against the Washington Capi...
That said, it is an encouraging number to see for this prop. We like that to be the case again. Toronto allowed 2.58 goals per game at home last year in contrast to a much higher 3.56 on the road. Toronto was 31-8-2 at home last season, covering the 3-way moneyline in 73.8% of contests at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto fans looking for some catharsis after last year’s tough playoff loss were let down in spectacular fashion. Ilya Samsonov makes his Leafs debut against his former team while Charlie Lindgren is between the pipes for the Caps.
The Washington Capitals will look to rebound tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs against a familiar face in Ilya Samsonov.
Maple Leafs betting odds on Caesars have the Capitals as 1.5 point underdogs on the road. [ live NHL games on ESPN](https://www.fubo.tv/stream/nhl/?irad=409363&irmp=374356) in which you can stream from your phone, television, and all your favorite devices. The Capitals have +180 moneyline odds while the Maple Leafs are the favorite at -220. After the Maple Leafs turned to Matt Murray last night, a familiar face will be in net for them tonight against the Capitals. That has to improve tonight especially against a talented offensive team like the Maple Leafs. Last night’s loss wasn’t on the new number one goalie, not at all.
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The Capitals played mostly good defense and outshot the Maple Leafs 10-8 in the period. The Capitals got the first power play. The [will start in net against his old mates](https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2022/10/10/toronto-maple-leafs-will-start-ilya-samsonov-against-the-capitals-on-thursday/) after the Leafs gave Matt Murray the first start. [Capitals new-look, aggressive PK](https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2022/10/02/capitals-debut-noticeably-more-aggressive-penalty-kill-under-new-assistant-coach-scott-allen/) left several Leafs forwards behind them and Morgan Rielly eventually found Tavares wide open. The Capitals started Sheary-Dowd-Hathaway and Orlov-Jensen. Erik Gustafsson found Dowd with a great cross-ice pass. We’ll see if John Carlson can rebound from a tough start to the season. Tonight marks the network’s season debut. Murray gave up four goals on 27 shots and finished the night with a .826 save percentage. This is Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin’s 26th season together. Both teams might be a little cranky and tired.
NHL odds, picks, and predictions for the Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs on October 13. NHL betting best bet and free pick analysis.
The Caps were outplayed early yesterday and faced a 3-0 deficit in the second frame and will likely have to rely on backup goalie [Charlie Lindgren](https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/players/1339/charlie-lindgren), who has played 24 games in the NHL over the last five seasons. Being smart with the puck will be a major part of the Leafs’ game tonight. The teams could play tight in front of their backups, especially the Leafs after being called out by their coach following last night's final-minute loss. The latter portion of that game slowed down significantly at 2-2. But that’s the life of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now the Buds will have the quick turnaround after traveling back home to face the Capitals, who dropped their opener 5-2 last night in DC. It’s a tough game to predict with both teams traveling on back-to-backs and coming off losses. The new combination finished with a 70% xGoal% and Malgin had one of the team’s three goals, amazingly leading all Toronto skaters with 0.658 xGoals. Now the sloppy-looking Maple Leafs return home to take on the Washington Capitals, who also dropped their opener last night. To put it in perspective, He added two shots on goal, tied for the most offensive-zone shifts at even strength, and complements the play of both Tavares and Nylander. [Denis Malgin](https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/players/6157/denis-malgin), [William Nylander](https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/players/376/william-nylander), and [John Tavares](https://www.covers.com/sport/hockey/nhl/players/691/john-tavares) was the best of the four last night for Toronto.
Nicholas Martin breaks down Thursday's NHL game between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs.
And I have really no concerns at all that Toronto will score at a high rate all season long, which really is not much of a take as even the Leafs’ greatest critics accept that. But one thing, in particular, did stand out to me on the back end that could prove to be a concern for Thursday’s contest and moving forward. His elite movement makes things look easy when true to form and always had me believing as a Capitals fan, yet his game has featured a tendency to allow soft goals at bad times. [Washington](https://www.actionnetwork.com/online-sports-betting/washington) allowed far more offensive chances than it would prefer versus Boston, but the team arguably still looked better than the Leafs, whose defensive play was lacking versus Montreal. I expect three-plus Leafs goals on Thursday. The second leg of Toronto’s goaltending experiment will get started Thursday. Get up-to-the-minute [NHL Odds](https://www.actionnetwork.com/nhl/odds)here. Lindgren played to a +4.5 goals saved above expected rating with St. Samsonov is an interesting player. I’m not ready to go that far yet, however, and I believe that offensively the Capitals will continue to score at a high rate this season while posing a tough challenge for a Leafs team whose second pairing was simply a disaster on opening night. [expected goals](https://www.actionnetwork.com/nhl/nhl-expected-goals-models-betting-how-to-bet-on-nhl) for in the contest still seemed low to my eye. [Maple Leafs](https://www.actionnetwork.com/nhl/odds/toronto-maple-leafs) host the Capitals.
After a disappointing effort on opening night in Montreal, Sheldon Keefe will return with the same lineup as the Maple Leafs look to rebound in their home ...
We weren’t on the mark with the pass or we weren’t on the mark with positioning, or we got outnumbered in the battle — whatever it might be. We weren’t able to assert ourselves in the game the way we would like to and the way we have the ability to. Getting to play in a back-to-back is the best-case scenario for us just to get back at it and try to get a win tonight. It is a lot of different things, but most importantly, it is managing time, score, and the puck. I think we have to just back to our game early in games and establish that. There were certainly a few instances of that, and we talked about it this morning, but it was more just forcing the issue at times when it was not the appropriate play. That is what we need to do no matter who we are playing or how you would interpret what the opponent is capable of. We are that calibre of a team. They did the things that they had to do to win. Samsonov is hoping for better team defense in front of him than the support Matt Murray received in Montreal, but as far as the goaltending battle is concerned, Murray did leave the door open last night if Samsonov were to make a statement in his The matchup in net will feature a money-on-the-board game for Ilya Samsonov, who will face off against the former team that opted not to qualify him this past offseason, against Charlie Lindgren, who has just 28 career NHL games to his name at the age of 28 spanning his stops in Montreal and St. Washington — currently without Tom Wilson, Nick Backstrom, and Carl Hagelin due to injury — is also coming off a tough loss Wednesday night in which they fell 5-2 at the hands of the Boston Bruins.