San Jose Sharks vs Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, Preview and Odds - 10/22/2021

Game Time: 6:00 pm ET, Friday, October 22, 2021

Venue:  Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Sharks +195, Leafs -235; Over/Under:  NL goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Sharks +185, Leafs -225; Over/Under:  6 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Sharks +180, Leafs -225; Over/Under:  6 goals

 

San Jose Sharks:  3-0-0 (2nd place, Pacific Division)

Toronto Maple Leafs:  2-1-1 (4th place, Atlantic Division)

 

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San Jose Sharks:  won on the road on Oct. 21 against the Ottawa Senators 2-1.

Toronto Maple Leafs:  lost at home on Oct. 18 against the New York Rangers in overtime 2-1.

 

 

 

The Sharks are coming into this game with 6 points and a 3-0-0 record to start the season and they are 2-0-0 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be the 2nd leg of a back-to-back for them after playing the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday night. The Sharks have opened their season with 3 straight wins over the Winnipeg Jets, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Sens in their last game. They have only faced Canadian teams so far and they have been laying down a beating on them outscoring them 11-4 with 1 shutout in that span as well. Now they come into Toronto for their 4th straight matchup against a Canadian team and their 3rd straight game in Canada. The Sharks are coming off of a 2-1 win over the Senators in a game that they had to come back in to win. They were trailing at the end of the 1st period but had a strong 2nd period scoring 2 goals to take the lead. Once they took the lead, they never gave it back as their defense and goaltending held up nicely in the 3rd period to bring this win home for them. The 2 goals in that game were scored by Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc. Brent Burns, William Eklund, Erik Karlsson, and Timo Meier all had 1 assist in that game. Couture and Matt Nieto both led the team in shots on goal in that game with 4 each. James Reimer was the starting goaltender in that one and will likely not be the starter in this game due to it being a back-to-back but he had allowed 1 goal on 31 shots with 30 saves and a .968 sv percentage. Adin Hill will likely get the start in net for this game against the Leafs. Their offense has scored 11 goals in their first 3 games averaging a little under 4 goals scored per game in that span and they have allowed their opponents to score 4 goals against them in that same span allowing a little over 1 goal per game.

 

 

The Leafs are coming into this game with 5 points and a 2-1-1 record to start the regular season and they are 2-0-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. The Leafs have a bit of an advantage over the Sharks here as they are the home team and have a few days of rest on their side with their last game played on Monday night. They lost that game 2-1 in OT to the Rangers and they have to be hurting from that one as they were the much better team and out shot the Rangers 41-23 in that game. The Leafs have not really played any good teams to start their season off as they have losses to the Rangers and to the Senators while also getting a win over the Sens and the Canadiens. The Rangers would be the best team of those 3 mentioned and they are definitely not a bad team but the Leafs still lost to them after dominating them for 3 periods. Michael Bunting scored the only goal in that game for the Leafs while Morgan Rielly and John Tavares both had 1 assist each. Auston Matthews led the team in shots on goal with 8 in his first game back from an injury. That was his season debut and he sure did take a lot of shots in that game but with nothing to show for it in the end. Jack Campbell was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 2 goals on 23 shots with 21 saves and a .913 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 8 goals in their first 4 games of the season averaging 2 goals scored per game in that span and they have been allowing their opponents to score 7 goals against them in that same span allowing a little under 2 goals per game. 

 

 

The Leafs have definitely been playing well on defense this season as they are holding their opponents to very few goals along with the help of their keeper. They are not scoring that many goals on offense though as they have not really created chances for themselves. The Sharks have been playing very well with an undefeated start and this game will mean a lot to them as it is James Reimer return to Toronto. Even though he will likely not play in the game, his team will want to win for him and they have been very good on defense this year and even better with their goaltending. This will be a low scoring game as both teams do not allow many so the best bet to place in this game is on the under.

 

Sharks Maple Leafs Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Friday, October 22, 2021 (6:00 pm ET start time) is Sharks 2 Leafs 1.

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San Jose Sharks: 60-62 O/U in all games. 14-24 O/U in a road game where where the total is 6 or more. 12-17 O/U in non-conference games.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 65-70 O/U in all games. 26-33 O/U in a home game where the total is 6 or more. 11-16 O/U in non-conference games.

 

 

San Jose Sharks:  A. Barabanov (LW) Ques Fri - Lower Body injury. Evander Kane (LW) Elig Nov 30 - Poss. Suspension. N. Knyzhov (D) Mid Dec - Lower Body injury. J. Viel (LW) Mid Nov - Finger injury.

Toronto Maple Leafs:  P. Mrazek (G) Early Nov - Groin injury. O. Kase (RW) Ques Fri - Lower Body injury. I. Mikheyev (RW) Mid Dec - Thumb injury.

 

 

San Jose Sharks: Erik Karlsson is one player to watch in this matchup. He leads his team in points and assists this season and he has been a real playmaker for his team in their games. He has 5 points and the Sharks have 11 goals this season so he has been involved in almost half of them, including an assist in their last game. Look for him to keep creating scoring chances for his teammates in this game.

 

Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews is one player to watch in this contest. He just played his first game of the season back from an injury and he was heavily involved in that game. He did not get any points in his season debut but he had 8 shots on net and also played over 20 minutes of that game. He is still finding his groove for this season so look for him to play better in this one as he has 1 game under his belt now.

 

 

“Again it was our compete level. It probably wasn’t the prettiest third period, but we grinded and so many guys were blocking shots, sacrificing the body, taking hits. It was a pleasure to watch.” - James Reimer on his team’s win over the Senators on Thursday night.

 

 

“The adrenalin the first 10 minutes kept me in it. Just hopping right out there, I could sense a little bit of fatigue setting in, but I tried to push through it.” - Auston Matthews on playing over 20 mins in their loss to the Rangers on Monday.

 

 

 

LW Dahlén, Jonathan

C Couture, Logan

RW Meier, Timo

LD Ferraro, Mario

RD Burns, Brent

G Reimer, James

 

LW Ritchie, Nick

C Matthews, Auston

RW Marner, Mitchell

LD Rielly, Morgan

RD Brodie, TJ

G Campbell, Jack

 

 

Points: E.Karlsson (5)

Goals: K.Labanc (2)

Assists: E.Karlsson (4)

GAA: J.Reimer (1.00)

 

Points: W.Nylander (4)

Goals: W.Nylander (2)

Assists: M.Rielly (3)

GAA: J.Campbell (1.18)

 

Coaches:

San Jose Sharks: Bob Boughner (3rd season)

Toronto Maple Leafs: Sheldon Keefe (3rd season)