NHL: Vancouver vs Toronto Pick
It will be an all-Canadian affair on Hockey Night in Canada as the Vancouver Canucks (18-7-1) visit the Toronto Maple Leafs (13-9-3). Cappers Picks will provide free NHL picks all season so check back in often.
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Vancouver vs Toronto
When: Saturday Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST
Where: Air Canada Centre
TV: CBC
NHL ATS Gambling Line: Toronto +111 / Vancover -122
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Saturday night hockey will kick off in Toronto when the Vancouver Canucks pay the Leafs a visit for their first meeting of the season. Vancouver has been rolling this season under the guidance of new head coach Willie Desjardins and the Sedin twins have had a resurgence with the addition of another NHL vet Radim Vrbata to the top line.
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Toronto has had its usual up and down season thus far, running off some impressive wins while laying some absolute stinkers. The Canucks have held the advantage in this match up over the last two seasons in pretty dominant fashion, but let’s take a look at how this game will shape up.
Canucks
What a difference a coaching change can make. The Canucks were a miserable disaster last year under John Tortorella and have really turned the corner this year since bringing in Willie Desjardins as his replacement. Vancouver sits comfortably in second in the very tough Pacific Division and have looked very much like the Canucks of 2010-11 when they made a run to the Stanley Cup final.
This team is a little bit older and have exchanged Roberto Luongo for Ryan Miller in net, but they’re getting the same results and that’s a lot of wins. The Sedin twins (shockingly) are leading the charge on offense and (even more shockingly) have the exact same point totals (6-18-24). Radim Vrbata has filled in nicely on the top line and leads the team with 11 goals.
Depth forwards Nick Bonino, Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins have all chipped in to give the Canucks a solid balance of firepower up front and defensively the vets like Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler have been solid. Goaltending has been a major contributor the Vancouver’s early success as Ryan Miller is in great form right now.
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His numbers may not jump off the page with a 2.45 GAA and .910 SV% but his 16-4 record indicates that this team plays well and with confidence in front of him.
Maple Leafs
For all of the complaining that you hear out of Leafs fans and calls for head coach Randy Carlyle to be canned, this team hasn’t been terrible. They’re holding on to seventh place in the East right now and are playing above .500 hockey. What the big difference has been for this team compared to past Leafs teams is that they’re getting more contribution from their secondary scorers.
Former Canuck Mike Santorelli has fit in nicely on the second line alongside Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul and has tallied 18 points, good enough for fourth on the team. Kadri has been snake bitten at times but has still managed 15 points and the oft-injured Lupul has five points in four games since returning from a hand injury that sidelined him for over a month.
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In net it looks like Toronto will go with Jonathan Bernier for the ninth straight game. Bernier was shaky in the third period in a win over Dallas on Tuesday and was beat up for five goals against an underwhelming New Jersey team on Thursday.
Canucks vs. Maple Leafs 4* Free Pick
Vancouver has been the better team this year and have held the advantage in this series, winning three of the last four meetings. Toronto did get a win over Vancouver last year at home and they have been a solid team on home ice of late, winning eight of their last 10 at the ACC.
The Canucks are in the midst of a long seven game road trip and I feel like the travel might catch up with them tonight and are catching a Toronto team that has had two pretty mediocre performances in a row.
I think the Leafs’ team speed catches Vancouver a bit flat footed tonight and Toronto comes out with the win in what should be an exciting game. Take the Leafs paying +111.
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