10 of the Maple Leafs' first 15 wins of the 2014-15 NHL season came by 3 goals or more. (Photo credit: James DiBianco / Foter / CC BY-SA)
Whether the Toronto Maple Leafs win or lose, they do it big.
Of the Leafs’ first 27 games this NHL season, only 9 have been decided by 1 goal.
Toronto’s 4-1 win over the Flames Tuesday was the team’s 10th victory by 3 goals or more already this season. They’ve won 2 other games by 2-goal margins.
On the flip side, they’ve lost 5 games by 3 goals and another 1 by 2.
This can open up some opportunities in NHL betting.
Instead of betting on the Leafs to win or lose, why not bet on them to win by more than one goal (-1.5) or lose by more than one goal (take their opponent -1.5) on the NHL betting puck line?
The puck line when laying -1.5 goals pays much better than taking a favourite on the money line.
An example
Tonight in Detroit, the Leafs are +166 underdogs against the Red Wings at Pinnacle Sports.
If you like Detroit in this matchup, taking the Wings -1.5 +161 would pay $261 on a $100 bet ($161 profit plus your $100 bet back). That seems better than betting $185 to win $285 on the money line.
If you like Toronto in this game, you can go for a really big score. Since the Leafs win a lot of their games by 2 goals or more, why not try them at -1.5 +435 on the alternate NHL betting puck line at Pinnacle Sports? That bet would pay $535 on a $100 bet, rather than $266 on the money line.
Taking teams -1.5 on the puck line means you lose if the game is decided by 1 goal, which obviously includes overtime and shootouts.
But even if it’s a close game, you might get lucky with an empty netter or two. Toronto led Tuesday’s game 2-1 until Calgary pulled its goalie for an extra attacker and the Leafs scored 2 goals in the final 2 minutes.
Other good NHL betting puck line candidates
- Only 10 of Vancouver’s first 29 games were decided by 1 goal. The Canucks are 6-5 in games decided by 3.
- 12 of the Sabres’ first 18 losses were by 2 goals or more, including 10 losses by 3+ goals.
- 9 of Tampa Bay’s first 18 wins came by 3 goals or more.
- 9 of Chicago’s first 19 wins came by 3 goals or more.
A full breakdown of each team’s margins of victories and losses can be found on NHL.com.