Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs Betting Preview

The Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This will be game 2 between the two squads as Tampa Bay was able to take a 1-0 series win in game 1. The Lightning ended up winning that game 7-3 as the Maple Leafs didn’t have an answer for the tough Tampa Bay attack.

Despite a season that was a bit disappointing for a team like Tampa Bay, everybody knows what this team can do in the playoffs. They’ve had the most success out of nearly every team in the NHL throughout the past five seasons, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them do what they’ve done multiple times, and that’s competing to win a Stanley Cup.

Still, the Maple Leafs had one of the best regular seasons in the NHL this year, finishing with 111 points. If they can’t find a way to win this game on their home ice, they’re going to find themselves in a very difficult position.

The sportsbooks currently have the Maple Leafs as a -170 favorite on the moneyline and +150 on the puck line.

Toronto Needs This Game

If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to make this season the one they were hoping for it to be, they must win this game on Thursday night. They’ve been one of the best teams in the NHL all season, and although they did get blown out in game 1, this is the bounce-back spot that this team might need.

They got humbled a bit in game 1 of the series, but now the focus shifts to if they’re going to be able to win the series. If they can’t keep the puck out of the back of the net, similar to what they weren’t able to do on Tuesday, the series might be over much quicker than many anticipated.

Toronto has a real chance of winning a Stanley Cup this season, and their odds to do so reflect that. The sportsbooks realize they still have a good chance of completing that task, with +1100 odds to win the Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay Has Been Here Before

It’s almost crazy to look at the Lightning as a team that had a disappointing season, but that was the case this year for this squad. Whenever Tampa doesn’t have a season of over 100 points, people typically look at that as a disappointment for this organization.

Still, everybody knows what they can do come playoff time, and that’s what makes them one of the toughest teams in the NHL to beat. They came out in game 1 and showed the Maple Leafs that they have their playoff experience, and they’re not going to let anybody walk over them.