The Toronto Maple Leafs return home from a short trip to Buffalo to battle the New York Islanders.
The pregame narrative: It’s the holiday season, and I expect this matchup between the Maple Leafs and Islanders to give bettors plenty of offence. Morgan Rielly and Bo Horvat are two players who caught my attention in the prop market for Saturday’s matchup.
Check out our Maple Leafs props vs. Islanders for the game on Dec. 21.
Maple Leafs props vs. Islanders
Go to full NHL betting markets.
Best Bet: Rielly to score 1+ points (-107)
This seems like a great spot to target Rielly.
The Maple Leafs rearguard is trending up after notching a point in back-to-back games.
Rielly appears to be fully engaged for the Maple Leafs ahead of the Christmas and holiday break, too, as he dropped the gloves with Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson in Friday night’s contest.
Mostly, Rielly’s spot on the top power play intrigues me against the Isles. New York sports the worst penalty-kill percentage (64.3%) in the NHL.
A poor penalty kill and unimpressive goaltending are two uncharacteristic traits plaguing the Islanders this season. Both work in Rielly — and Toronto’s — favour on Saturday night.
Key stat: New York ranks 22nd in save percentage (.892) this season.
Quick pick
Horvat to score 1+ points (+100): I typically target players skating on PP1 in this market, but I’m willing to make an exception for the Islanders.
The reason is that New York has the worst power-play percentage (12.1%) in the league this year.
Yes, the Islanders have the worst PP and PK in the NHL this season.
But this is a nice price to back Horvat. The centre is second among all Isles forwards in ice time (20:07) and third in points (22).
Horvat has been productive in recent outings, too, registering eight points in his last 10 outings.
Joseph Woll will likely start after Matt Murray tended the twine on Friday. Woll has allowed three goals in three of his last four starts.
Picks made at 10:31 a.m. on 12/21/2024.
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Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.