New Jersey Devils vs Toronto Maple Leafs - Odds and Predictions

Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

When: Tuesday, January 14, 7 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): TVA, SNO, MSG+ | WFAN

New Jersey Devils (Away)

Head Coach: Alain Nasreddine{All-Time 8-8-3 NJD}

Although sitting last in the Metropolitan division, the New Jersey Devils are coming off of their biggest win of the season – beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 and snapping the team’s ten-game winnings streak. The Devils are now on a streak of their own, having won their last two in a row.

Offense

New Jersey hasn’t had much going on in the way of offense this season, and it only got worse after the departure of star forward Taylor Hall.

New Jersey has the third-fewest goals in the NHL and they average only 2.6 per game – the third-lowest average per game.

The team has the second-worst power play in the NHL. The special teams unit has just a 14.29 success rate and 22 power-play goals. Their power-play unit has also allowed six short-handed goals against.

They also rank in the bottom-five of the league in shooting percentage with an 8.4 percent. This team also takes a lot of penalties.

Read also: 2020 Stanley Cup Favorites.

Defense

The New Jersey Devils allow a lot of goals; the second-most in the league, in fact. This season, the Devils sit behind only the Detroit Red Wings when it comes to goals allowed. The team has had 152 goals hit the back of their net.

The irony is that they’ve allowed the 12th-fewest shots against. This imbalance in numbers gives the team the league’s fourth-worst save percentage at .893 percent.

They can kill penalties though. Well, at least better than their opponents. New Jersey ranks 18th in penalty killing with a 80.13 percent. They are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs in an interesting stat: both teams have five short-handed goals this season.

Goaltending

MacKenzie Blackwood is expected to get the start for New Jersey Tuesday night. Blackwood has gone 14-12-6 this season with the Devils. He has a 2.97 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. He has one shutout this season.

It should be noted that Blackwood has been listed as day-to-day over the last few games and he sat out over the weekend. He is expected to be back in goal for Tuesday night but a last-minute switch is possible.

Head Coach: Sheldon Keefe{All-Time 15-6-2 TOR}

After a strong start under new head coach Sheldon Keefe to finish 2019, the Leafs now seem to be showing signs of slowing down. The Leafs are coming off of an 8-4 rout against the Florida Panthers and have now lost their last three games straight.

Offense

At the time of writing, no team in the NHL had scored more goals than the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto currently has 165 tallies on the season, 31 of those belonging to Auston Matthews.

Twenty-nine of those goals have come on the power play where the Leafs rank seventh in the NHL with a 23.02 power-play percentage.

Toronto has also taken the fourth-most shots on goal this season and those numbers translate into a shooting percentage of 10.7 – the league’s sixth-best.

Defense

First thing’s first: it was announced that Morgan Rielly will miss at least the next two months of action with a broken foot. He will now join defensive teammate Jake Muzzin on the sidelines. This does not bode well for a Toronto team that has struggled this season to remain consistent.

For as much as the Maple Leafs score goals, they also let a lot get past them. Toronto has allowed 150 goals against – the fifth-most in the league.

Toronto has also allowed the seventh-most shots on goal and the team has the 13th-worst combined save percentage this season at .900.

The Leafs have also struggled to kill penalties all season. Although they don’t take many, they can’t seem to kill off the few that they do. Toronto currently has a 75.76 penalty-killing percentage, which is good for the sixth-worst in the league.

Goaltending

Goaltender Frederik Andersen is expected to start his 34th game of the season when Toronto takes on the Devils. Andersen has a season record of 21-8-5. His goals-against average sits at 2.82 and he has a .912 save percentage. Like Blackwood, he also has one shutout this season.

These two teams last faced off late last year on December 27. The Toronto Maple Leafs came out of the victors, defeating the Devils in a hard-fought game by a final score of 5-4.

What’s at Stake?

This is a much more important game for Toronto than it is for New Jersey. Although beating Tampa Bay and Toronto two games in a row would be nice, the Devils simply (most likely) don’t have what it takes to climb back into playoff contention. These two points are crucial for Toronto as their playoff future is anything but guaranteed – especially after dropping their last three.

Questions to Answer

Whose streak will come to an end Tuesday night? Will the New Jersey Devils be able to make it three wins in a row by defeating another one of the league’s top teams? Or will Toronto be able to pull off the win, snapping their three-game skid?

Will home ice play a factor for the Leafs as it has all season? Toronto is 11-56 at home while the New Jersey Devils have gone 10-12-0 when on the road.

How much will the announced loss of defenseman Morgan Reilly affect the Leafs on the backend? Will New Jersey be able to exploit that gap in Toronto’s roster?

F Kyle Palmieri – day-to-day (lower-body)

F Ben Street – DL (upper-body)

G MacKenzie Blackwood – day-to-day (upper-body)

Toronto Maple Leafs Injury Report

F Ilya Mikheyev – DL (wrist)

F Trevor Moore – DL (concussion)

D Morgan Rielly – DL (foot)

D Jake Muzzin – DL (foot)

F David Clarkson – IR/NR (back)

F Nathan Horton – IR/NR (back)

New Jersey Devils vs Toronto Maple Leafs Odds

The latest odds for the NJ Devils vs the Maple Leafs are provided by bet365 NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and 888Sport NJ.

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