Once Upon A Time in America Betting Show
Toronto Maple Leafs (22-8-6) vs. Colorado Avalanche (19-12-3)
The 2022-23 NHL season goes on with a 12-game schedule on the final day of 2023 and brings this interconference clash from Ball Arena in Denver Colorado when the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Colorado Avalanche at 7:00 PM.
Toronto enters as the favorite with the moneyline set at -121 with the total set at 6.5. These teams split their two games last year, with the home team winning both contests. That includes Colorado winning 5-4 in OT on January 8 at -166 favorites on the moneyline with the total set at 6.5.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are closing out a three-game road trip on Saturday that has seen the team split the first two games after losing to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, 6-3. They earned a 5-4 victory in overtime in St. Louis on Tuesday, moving the team to 2-4-1 on the road in December. Toronto was a considerable favorite (-283) in the loss and is now at -564 in 2022-23. Toronto held a 3-2 lead entering the final period, but gave up four unanswered tallies.
“They played extremely hard, they were extremely structured, and they made things real hard on us,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Ultimately it came down to our inability to kill some ill-timed penalties. … Details like that. We were just off in our execution.”
On to Colorado@LGCanada | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/dr4w1UQtrO
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 30, 2022
Will Nylander was held off the scoresheet but had seven points in his previous four games. Conor Timmins had two assists in the loss and now has eight assists in 10 games. Toronto is 11th in goals per game (3.31) but has been incredible defensively, second overall in goals allowed per game (2.56). Ilya Samsonov has been great between the pipes (11-3-0, 2.20, .920), but has allowed 13 goals over his last three games. This came after allowing one goal or fewer in four straight games.