Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/07/2023

Game Time: 6:30 pm ET, Sunday, May 7, 2023

Venue:  FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, FL

Where to Watch:  TBS

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Maple Leafs -125, Panthers +105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Maple Leafs -125, Panthers +105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Maple Leafs -125, Panthers +105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Toronto Maple Leafs:  50-21-11 (2nd place, Atlantic Division)

Florida Panthers:  42-32-8 (4th place, Atlantic Division)

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Toronto Maple Leafs:  6-4-0 last 10

Florida Panthers:  6-4-0 last 10

The Maple Leafs are entering this game finishing the regular season with 111 points, a 50-21-11 record overall, and they were 23-13-5 in their road games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 2 game losing streak with both losses coming against the Florida Panthers in their last 2 games, losing that last one at home 3-2. Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O'Reilly each scored 1 goal in that game. Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Luke Schenn, and Morgan Rielly each led the team in assists with 1 while Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, and William Nylander each led the team in shots on net in that game with 6. Ilya Samsonov was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 3 goals on 29 shots with 26 saves and a .896 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 279 goals this season averaging 3.4 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 222 goals against them allowing 2.7 goals per game.

The Panthers are entering this game finishing the regular season with 92 points, a 42-32-8 record overall, and they were 23-13-5 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 5 game winning streak with wins coming against the Boston Bruins 3 games in a row and the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last 2 games, winning that last one on the road 3-2. Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, and Gustav Forsling each scored 1 goal in that game. Anton Lundell, Anthony Duclair, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk each led the team in assists with 1 while Anton Lundell, Brandon Montour, and Carter Verhaeghe each led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Sergei Bobrovsky was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 2 goals on 37 shots with 35 saves and a .946 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 266 goals this season averaging 3.2 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 213 goals against them allowing 2.6 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Leafs listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. This is game 3 of a 7-game series between the Panthers and the Leafs for the 2nd round of the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers are entering this game with a 2-0 series lead after stealing both road games in Toronto and they have now put themselves in a great position to sweep the Leafs with 2 home games coming up. The Panthers have a lot of momentum behind them after kicking out the best team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins, and they have now won 5 games in a row too. The Leafs are going to have their backs against the wall here and even though they are on the road down 2-0 in this series, there is actually less pressure on this team in their road games and they have performed very well in Florida lately too. The Leafs are going to throw everything they have at the Panthers in this game to ensure they don't go down 3-0 in this series and the Leafs will bounce back as they cut the series lead in half for the Panthers. The Leafs may have lost both their home games but they aren't out of this series yet so expect them to respond in a big way in this game. The best way to place a bet here is on the Leafs to win this game and cut the series lead to 2-1 for the Panthers.

Maple Leafs Panthers Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Sunday, May 7, 2023 (6:30 pm ET start time) is Leafs 5 Panthers 2.

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Toronto Maple Leafs: 13-3 (+8.2 units) on the moneyline off a home loss. 26-8 (+13.5 units) on the moneyline after 1 or more consecutive losses. 6-1 UNDER off a home loss against a division rival. 26-16 UNDER after playing a home game.

Florida Panthers: 1-7 (-8.4 units) on the moneyline after scoring 3 goals or more in 5 straight games. 21-26 (-14.2 units) on the moneyline off a win or tie in their previous game. 12-5 UNDER after a 5 game unbeaten streak. 6-0 UNDER in the second round of the playoffs.

Toronto Maple Leafs:  M. Knies (LW) Ques Sun - Undisclosed. V. Mete (D) Mid May - Lower Body. M. Murray (G) Mid May - Concussion. B. McMann (C) Out indefinitely - Knee. J. Muzzin (D) out for season - Neck. N. Robertson (LW) out for season - Shoulder.

Florida Panthers:  R. Lomberg (LW) Mid May - Upper Body. S. Knight (G) Out indefinitely - Personal. P. Hornqvist (RW) out for season - Concussion.

“Disappointing, baffling. We didn’t make those mistakes one time in the last series.” - Sheldon Keefe after his team’s loss against the Panthers in their game on Thursday, game 2 of this series. 

“It’s perspective. That’s five games in nine nights of as intense, emotional pressure you can put on a hockey team. We’ve been on an airplane for a while. We didn’t think we had much in our legs. It was just about character and it was just about fighting through it and battling.” - Paul Maurice after his team’s win against the Leafs in their game on Thursday, game 2 of this series.

LW Knies, Matthew

C Matthews, Auston

RW Nylander, William

LD McCabe, Jake

RD Brodie, TJ

G Samsonov, Ilya

LW Verhaeghe, Carter

C Barkov, Aleksander

RW Duclair, Anthony

LD Forsling, Gustav

RD Ekblad, Aaron

G Bobrovsky, Sergei

Points: M. Marner (99)

Goals: W. Nylander (40)

Assists: M. Marner (69)

GAA: J. Alexander (0.00)

Points: M. Tkachuk (109)

Goals: C. Verhaeghe (42)

Assists: M. Tkachuk (69)

GAA: A. Lyon (2.89)

Coaches:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Sheldon Keefe (4th season)

Florida Panthers: Paul Maurice (1st season)