How the teams fared last year
Toronto is absolutely loaded with talent. No one can question that. There is star power up and down this lineup, from Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Auston Matthews up front, to Morgan Reilly on the back end, to Frederik Andersen in goal.
The Maple Leafs are a high-powered offense that can skate with any team on any given night. Their nemesis the last few seasons, though, has been the Boston Bruins, who have eliminated them from the playoffs each of the last three years — all in the first round.
Expectations are that the Maple Leafs will make a huge run in the playoffs, otherwise it will be yet another disappointing season.
In Ottawa, meanwhile, fans probably aren’t expecting much at all, other than some continued development from some of the impressive young talent on this team. The Senators finished with a lowly 64 points last season, and they were outscored 242 goals for to 302 goals given up.
There were some bright spots on the team last year, including youngster Thomas Chabot on defense and Brady Tkachuk at left wing. The team and their fans have to be expecting another down year, unfortunately. They can, however, hope to see some of the exciting young talent the team has build some momentum for future years.
Last season, the Maple Leafs and the Senators met four times during the regular season. Surprisingly, the Senators beat the Maple Leafs three out of four times, and scored an average of 4.75 goals per game against them. We’ll see if they can continue that success this season.
How the teams look for opening night
Neither Toronto nor Ottawa is facing any serious injury concerns headed into their opening night clash. There could be some rust on players such as Marner, who didn’t come to a contract agreement with the Maple Leafs until training camp was already under way.
The full odds for this game have been posted at most sportsbooks. Not surprisingly, the Maple Leafs are huge favorites, with -286 odds on the moneyline, with the Senators at +230 on the moneyline. The Maple Leafs are favored -1.5 on the puckline with -104 odds, while taking the Senators and the +1.5 puckline would require odds of -118. The total goals have been set high at 6, with the over at -118 and the under at -105.
If you are interested in placing a wager on the Senators-Maple Leafs game or any other opening-night game in the NHL, check out one of the online sportsbooks below.