The Toronto Maple Leafs head southwest this Tuesday, January 31st when they visit Texas to take on the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Leafs have 55 points and currently sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference. Dallas enters the game with 50 points and occupies sixth spot in the Central Division and 13th in the Western Conference. The Leafs were 2-1 losers in Philadelphia in their last outing on Thursday while the Stars managed to edge Buffalo 4-3 at home the same night. Dallas is 13-7-6 at home and Toronto is 11-7-6 on the road.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Dallas Stars: bet365 NHL Betting Line:
- Line: Maple Leafs +1.5 at 10/29, Stars -1.5 at 47/20
- Total: Over 5.5 goals: 4/5, Under 5.5 goals: 21/20
- Money Line: Maple Leafs 20/21, Stars 20/23
Maple Leafs vs Stars Trends:
Toronto Maple Leafs:
- Season record: 22-15-9 straight up, 30-17 against the spread
- Toronto is 7-2-1 against Dallas in their last 10 meetings
- Toronto is 11-5 ATS and straight up in their past 16 contests
- The total has been under in four of Toronto’s past five outings
- Toronto is 5-0 ATS in its their past five road games|
- Toronto is 9-2 in their past 11 road contests
- The total has been under in nine of Toronto’s past 13 road games
- Toronto is 7-1 in their past eight encounters with Dallas
- The total has been under in four Toronto’s past six meetings against Dallas
Dallas Stars:
- Season record: 20-20-10 straight up, 19-31 against the spread
- Dallas is 3-5-2 against Toronto in their past 10 meetings
- Dallas is 2-5 in their past seven games
- The total has been over in eight of Dallas’ past 12 contests
- Dallas has gone 8-17 against the spread in their past 25 home games
- Dallas is 2-5 in their past seven home outings
- The total has been over in five of Dallas’ past six home encounters
- Dallas has gone is 1-7 in their past eight meetings with Toronto
- The total has been over in four of Dallas’ past six meetings with Toronto
Toronto Maple Leafs – A Closer Look:
After finishing last season dead last in the league, the Leafs are currently sitting a point shy of a playoff spot as the NHL resumes after the All-Star break. Of course, drafting American center Auston Matthews with the first overall pick last summer has helped their cause. However, the Leafs typically have about eight other rookies in the lineup on a nightly basis and have been full value for their 55 points this season. They’re getting plenty of offense from forwards Matthews, Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Mitch Marner, Connor Brown, Tyler Bozak and defenseman Jake Gardiner.
Newcomer Frederik Andersen has also been stellar in net, with his last two wins both being 4-0 shutouts. The Leafs recent franchise record of 11 straight road games with at least a point was snapped last Thursday when the Flyers scored the winning goal with just over two minutes to play. Toronto has still managed to win six of their past 10 games though. Toronto owns both the league’s best power play and penalty killing units on the road this season and is scoring a sixth-best 3.1 goals per game. In fact, at 23.8 per cent, their overall power play is also ranked second best in the NHL.
The Leafs give up 2.83 goals per game on average, which is the 14th-most in the league, and have killed 85.2 per cent of their penalties. As far as injuries go, defenseman Morgan Rielly missed last week’s games with an ankle injury and is questionable. Center Ben Smith recently had hand surgery and is out of action while defenseman Stephane Robidas and forward Jofrey Lupul have been buried on the team’s injured reserve list.
Dallas Stars – A Closer Look:
Dallas needs as many points as they can get if they hope to make the playoffs, especially in their home games. They’re currently three points out of a wildcard spot. They’ve mainly been winning and losing in regulation time and overtime this season as they went to their first shootout of the season last Tuesday when they dropped a 3-2 decision to the visiting Nashville Predators. Dallas snapped a three-game losing skid with their win over Buffalo and is now 4-6 in their past 10 games.
The Stars score a 14th-ranked 2.7 goals per game with their power play clicking at just 16.7 percent, which is ranked 21st in the NHL. They also give up a third-worst 3.14 goals against per game with a league-worst 74 per cent penalty killing rate. Dallas has had a hard time with Toronto lately with four straight losses and just three wins in the last 10 meetings, with one of them being in overtime. They also have two wins and three losses in their last five home games with the Leafs.
Dallas will have to watch the Leafs’ rookies and make sure they don’t fall behind early since Toronto is the top-scoring first period team in the league. On the injury front, forwards Radek Faksa is questionable after missing the last two games. Defenseman Johnny Oduya is out for another week or two as is defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. Center Mattias Janmark and right-winger Ales Hemsky are both out for the season following surgery.
By Ian Palmer
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