The Toronto Maple Leafs look to salvage a win from their home-and-home series with the Buffalo Sabres.
The pregame narrative: Toronto lost the game and William Nylander on Friday night. Nylander’s status for tonight’s game is uncertain, and that’s bad news for the team’s offence. Cayden Primeau gets the start, and that could be problematic as well.
Check out my Maple Leafs prop picks vs. the Sabres for the game on Oct. 25, featuring John Tavares.
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Maple Leafs picks vs. Sabres
Best Bet: Tavares over 2.5 shots (-106)
This isn’t a line Tavares is beating with much regularity this season.
But he topped it last night, and there’s reason to believe in a repeat performance.
Toronto switched up its forward lines ahead of Friday’s game. The team bumped Nylander to the first line with Auston Matthews, while putting Matthew Knies on Tavares’ wing on the second line.
-> Bet on John Tavares tonight!
As a result, Tavares finished the game with three shots, his second-highest total of the season.
Having a player like Knies, who is a great puck retriever, should lead to more shot opportunities for Tavares.
The matchup doesn’t get any better for Tavares. Buffalo is allowing the most shots per game this season (33.3).
It surrendered 34 shots to Toronto in last night’s contest.
Bet on a solid shot showing from Tavares.
Key stat: Tavares has topped this prop in each of his last two games, totalling eight shots.
Best NHL prop predictions
Alex Tuch to score 1+ points (-125): This is another wager I can get behind.
Tuch is tied with Benson for the team lead in points (seven) and has a point in five of his last six games.
He scored a pair of points in last night’s win against the Maple Leafs and is poised to produce once again.
-> Don’t miss out — Bet on Sabres vs. Maple Leafs prop markets
Tuch plays all situations for the Sabres, leading all forwards in average ice time (20:09).
He should see plenty of opportunities to score against a Toronto squad ceding the fifth-most goals per game (3.75).
Maple Leafs picks made at 12:35 p.m. ET 10/25/2025.
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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.