Christmas NHL - Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

- 21 Dec 2009

Boxing Day features a pair of matchups that have NHL punters talking, starting with the Original Six battle at the Air Canada Centre between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens (+104 @ Pinnacle) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout of the New York Islanders on Saturday night, as All-Star defenseman Andrei Markov scored two goals in his return to the lineup after missing 35 games with a heel injury. Montreal isn’t out of the woods when it comes to overcoming injuries, however, with Brian Gionta (foot) and Roman Hamrlik (knee) still out for the Habs. Toronto stifled Montreal 3-0 as +122 underdogs when the two rivals met at the Bell Centre on December 1. Jonas Gustavsson and Joey MacDonald combined for the shutout for the Maple Leafs, who got two assists from Phil Kessel in the upset.

29th in goals against per game (3.5), Toronto had played under the total in seven of its last 10 before Monday’s matchup with Buffalo.

Also on Boxing Day, the Washington Capitals host the New Jersey Devils at the Verizon Center. The Capitals had cashed seven of 10 against the moneyline before running into the Sabres on Wednesday, and they’ll need to be at the top of their game to get past a red-hot Devils team on Saturday night.

New Jersey had won eight of its last nine coming into Monday’s tilt with Pittsburgh to sit at 25-8-1 in the Eastern Conference standings. The Devils skated past the Caps 5-2 on November 14 at the Prudential Center, cashing as -138 moneyline chalk in the process.

Wednesday night’s schedule is headlined by a showdown between the Penguins and Ottawa Senators at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. The Pens should be favoured to avenge an ugly 6-2 loss to the Senators at Scotiabank Place on November 19, when Ottawa got two markers from Chris Phillips to win as -116 faves.

Pittsburgh had won five in a row and eight of its last 10 rolling into Monday’s contest with New Jersey despite a power play that ranked dead last in the league (13.5%) coming into the week. The dearth of production with the man-advantage had contributed to the Penguins hitting the under for totals bettors in seven of their last eight before facing the Devils.

 









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