Tuesday night means hockey night, and NHL fans are in for a treat this week. There are 10 games across the evening with most taking place in the 7 and 8 p.m. EST window. One of the opening matchups pits the New Jersey Devils (5-4-0) against the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2-1). The New Jersey looks strong and the Leafs do as well despite a smidge of drama surrounding the franchise, so this shapes up as a nice, competitive affair.
Get ready for the action with a Devils vs. Leafs prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday night.
Maple Leafs vs. Devils prediction, preview
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs come in at 3-2-1 thanks to some inconsistent play over the first couple of weeks. The drama over teammates’ lack of, well, fight in defense of goaltender Anthony Stolarz has hung over the team for the last day, but they’re working to figure things out as far as on-ice product goes. Toronto comes in at fifth with 3.67 goals per game while averaging 28.7 shots per game, 13th in the league. William Nylander’s 11 points are tied for third-most among all skaters thanks to nine assists, while Matthew Knies and John Tavares have eight and seven points apiece. Auston Matthews’ tally sits at a modest six in six games, and while the points haven’t really come at a high rate, he does boast a team-high four goals with a +5 rating. The power play inspires less confidence at just 14.3%, 27th, while the penalty kill logs an 82.4% rate. Stolarz’s play has been decent with a 2.79 GAA and .897 SV%, but he’s among the league’s better goalies and should only see that percentage increase with a larger sample.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils look quite good to begin the season with a four-game winning streak, completely erasing memories of a loss in the season opener. The goal differential of four doesn’t suggest dominance, but New Jersey averages 3.80 goals per game, fourth-most in the NHL thanks to a true team effort of five players with three snipes each. Jesper Bratt leads the team with seven points, followed closely by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier’s six. Timo Meieir and Dawson Mercer have five apiece, and Luke Hughes leads defensemen with four points himself. The Devils’ power play hits at a 25.0% clip thus far, and the penalty kill looks even more impressive at 95.0% — those two marks both rank inside the top 10. While the defense gives up 3.00 goals per game, they’ve gotten the most out of Jake Allen in net with a 1.88 GAA and .934 SV% while Jacob Markstrom slumps at 3.89 and .845, respectively.
Maple Leafs vs. Devils pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Maple Leafs as -122 home favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Devils enter with +102 odds. The total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
The Leafs boast more star power on their roster, and it’s hard to pick against Matthews and Nylander. However, the Devils are playing some very solid hockey in recent days and have momentum on their side, plus the Toronto blue line has been particularly shaky at the top. Morgan Reilly is a -4 thus far on the first defensive pairing, so there’s potential for New Jersey’s top guys to exploit a weakness there. The top lines for the Devils are playing quality team hockey at the moment and the team sees a significant advantage on special teams, though on a small sample size. While the Maple Leafs are far better at home than in their one road game on the young campaign, the visitors can escape with an upset victory.
