Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs Game 7 Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The two best words in sports are “Game Seven,” and there are three such games set to take place on Saturday. The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Tampa Bay Lightning in one of these games, and this series has been highly entertaining.

Tampa Bay has won the last two Stanley Cup titles, and they just won’t let the Maple Leafs off the hook in this series. The Lightning were not as dominant in the regular season, and they haven’t been able to flip the switch in the playoffs. 

Toronto has a history of choking the playoffs, and they will have plenty of pressure on them at home in this game. The Maple Leafs failed to close it out in Tampa Bay, but they will have the support of the home crowd on Saturday. 

The Maples Leafs are the moneyline betting favorites at -125 to win Game 7 over the Lightning.

Lightning Want to Defend

The Tampa Bay Lightning won a pair of Stanley Cup titles on the strength of their defense, and that has to be a key in this game. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has also struggled for Tampa Bay, but he is capable of shutting down the door. 

The Lightning held teams to under 2.8 goals per game during the regular season, and they also killed off 81 percent of their penalties. Tampa Bay has struggled to contain Toronto in this series, but that has to be the focus on Saturday.

Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman have combined for 15 points in the postseason to lead the Lightning, but Steven Stamkos has struggled to get going. It will take a complete team effort for the Lightning to knock off the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Toronto Has Some Weapons

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t always shown it in this series, but they can be explosive on the offensive end of the ice. Toronto scored 3.8 goals per game during the regular season, and they scored on the power play 27 percent of the time.

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews do most of the offensive damage for the Maple Leafs, and both players have come up big in the postseason. That duo has combined for 15 points, and Toronto is not going to win unless they show up on Saturday night.

Goaltender Jack Campbell has really struggled to stop shots against the Lightning, and Toronto won’t win a defensive battle. Look for the Maple Leafs to be extremely aggressive in Game 7 on Saturday night.

Maple Leafs Moving On

This series has been as good as advertised, and Game 7 should play out in much the same way. Both teams have been able to find plenty of offense up to this point, but don’t expect either team to get much separation on Saturday night. 

Tampa Bay just won’t seem to give up, but they haven’t been getting a dominant effort from Vasilevskiy so far in these playoffs. The Maple Leafs just have so many offensive weapons, and they will find just enough room to break through in this matchup. 

Take the Toronto Maple Leafs -125 as they get a late goal to win Game 7 and move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Prop Picks

Tampa Bay (+135) UNDER 2.5 Goals

Toronto is allowing 3.1 goals per game on defense, which ranks No. 19 in the league, while holding teams to 30.6 shots per game, which ranks No. 9. Scores have gone UNDER in two of the Maple Leafs’ last four home games when the total is 6.5 or higher.

With Dunkel predicting a Toronto victory by the score of 3-2, take the Lightning (+135) to finish UNDER their Vegas team point total of 2.5 goals against the Maple Leafs.

Michael Bunting (-120) UNDER 0.5 Points

Bunting had 63 points in 79 games during the regular season, which ranked No. 6 on the Maple Leafs. The left wing had only 21 points in 39 home games compared to 42 points in 40 road games.

With Dunkel predicting a Toronto home win with the final score staying UNDER the Vegas total, take Bunting (-120) to finish UNDER 0.5 points against Tampa Bay.

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