Ice Hockey | Wednesday, February 1, 2023 11:35 AM

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins Best Bet: Final Games Before the Break

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US Sports Expert

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins Best Bet: Wednesday, February 1st

The final two games before the All-Star break are being played on Wednesday, so our resident pucks expert Ej Garr has picked out the featured affair in Toronto. The struggling Bruins have lost 3 straight games after a tremendous start to the campaign, and Toronto has been one tough place to find goals lately. With an offer on a prop for the first period of action, Ej expects a low-scoring start to this game so let’s break it down.

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Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins Preview

February 2, 00:30 (UK time)

Ilya Samsonov has played his best hockey at home this campaign, and he should add to that success with a struggling Bruins team in town on Wednesday night. Samsonov has held 14 of the Leafs’ 17 opponents to two goals or less out of his 17 home starts, and the last time Boston was here he allowed a single goal in a 2 – 1 Maple Leafs win.

Feeling snubbed by being left off the All-Star roster will surely motivate Samasonov to remind everyone why he deserved a chance to be in Florida this coming weekend. His counterpart Linus Ullmark will be at the festivities this weekend, and he too will likely want to showcase why his spot was earned.

Both netminders have only suffered 4 regulation-time losses this season, but Ullmark’s 1.90 GAA combined with the Boston hot start secured his bid to the All-Star roster.

Despite the 3-game losing streak, Boston arrives in Toronto slightly favoured over the Leafs at 1.83, and the absence of Auston Matthews for the Leafs doesn’t help matters much. Matthews will be out of the lineup for about 3 weeks after Toronto put him on the Injured Reserve list, but the Leafs still managed to score 5 goals in his first game off the ice last time out against Washington.

Boston and Toronto have split the season series with a win apiece at home, but Samsonov didn’t make the start that Boston won on January 14 in Bean Town, 4 – 3. The Leafs had won four straight games against Boston before then, and even without Matthews playing they certainly still have confidence they can hockey games.

This will be one heck of a test against one of the best keepers in Hockey, and that is why I am suggesting that we fancy a wager on the Under 1.5 1st-period Goals. I have a feeling that we might not even see a goal in the opening frame at all, and you know I like the line of 2.08. I am a plus-money kind of guy, and I couldn’t call myself the Mayor of Value City without that approach.

This road trip for Boston has been brutal, and I doubt anyone thought they could possibly go 0 for 4 before the All-Star break. Ilya Samsonov and David Pastrnak are the only two Bruins that will be in Florida for All-Star weekend, while Mithcell Marner will be the lone representative for Toronto.