Expect Panthers To Battle Past Maple Leafs In Narrow Game 6 Win

Maple Leafs aim to force Game 7 as they trail 3-2, heading to Florida for a must-win Game 6 against the Panthers on Friday

One of the most important games in the recent history of the Toronto Maple Leafs as they stare down a daunting 3-2 series hole to the defending champions in the Florida Panthers.

The odds are stacked against them as only ten teams in history have come back and won a series after winning the first two games before dropping three straight.

A loss for the Buds on Friday would be the first time this season that they lost four straight games and with the way game five went, they should respond with a much better effort. 

For bettors, this matchup provides a chance to capitalize on some of our recent strong trends, like our 38-29 record on our last 67 picks, including perfect records during Game 1 and 4 of the Maple Leafs-Senators series. 

All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

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Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Best Bets:

• Under 5.5 goals (-105)
• Panthers Under 3.5 goals (-128)
• Sergei Bobrovsky Over 22.5 saves (-102)

The game got out of hand for Toronto in game five and because of it the over hit with the Panthers continuing to pile on to a emotionally defeated Leafs team. 

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I expect a much better response on defence as they will be playing for their playoff lives and put extra effort on the back end to prevent another blow up performance. 

It should lead to a busy night for netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who has made 23 or more saves in three of the five games this series and with Toronto desperately looking to extend the series, I expect him to do it once again. 

Florida should respond with a similar type game as they will work extra hard to close out this series and punch their ticket to the Conference Finals versus Carolina. The home atmosphere has proven to be a massive advantage for the Panthers with a league-best 17-9 home playoff record over the last three postseasons. 

Their goals per game isn't especially terrifying during that stretch at three on average but their 2.54 goals against average is one of the best. It should mean a challenging night for the already-struggling Leafs offence that has just one goal over the last two games. 

Toronto typically finishes playoff series with tight, low-scoring games. For instance, their game seven against Boston last season ended with just three total goals. In their final game against Florida in 2023, only five goals were scored and their 2022 series-ending loss to Tampa Bay, totaled just three goals in game seven.

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This trend has been with the Buds in six of their last eight postseason runs dating back to 2017 so expect them to tighten up when they need to. The Panthers should find a way to win but it will be narrow and certainly not with four or more goals.