Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/7/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: Maple Leafs -135, Hurricanes +115

BetMGM: Maple Leafs -140, Hurricanes +115

Caesars: Maple Leafs -135, Hurricanes +115

Hurricanes: 31-9-2 (1st place, Metro)

Maple Leafs: 29-10-3 (3rd place, Atlantic)

It was an eventful All-Star weekend in Las Vegas this past weekend for the NHL, but it is time to get down to business and to defeat the Huns.

And we kick things off on Monday with a rousing game in Toronto between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Toronto Maple Leafs, and as much as I want to believe that we will get through post-all-star jitters in the matter of a few days, I'm taking the Hurricanes in a fairly comfortable fashion.

The biggest reason why I think Carolina will not only play one of its better games of the season, but a tough time for Toronto, is because of the man that will be making his return to Toronto on Monday for the first time since signing as a free agent with Carolina in the offseason, and I'm talking about goalie Fredrik Andersen.

After playing five seasons with the Maple Leafs, Andersen is now the number one goaltender in Carolina and is likely the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy at this moment. The 32-year-old goalie has 24 wins in 30 appearances this season, to go with a .929 save percentage and a 2.01 goals-against average.

The only thing that was stopping the Hurricanes from taking that next step to being perennial favorites in the Eastern Conference was the lack of killer instinct in goal. We know of the talent that Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Teuvo Teravainen bring to the table. Jaccob Slavin is also one of the better defensemen in the league and has shown it again with 22 points in 40 games.

Even, begrudgingly, Tony DeAngelo is having a Renaissance-like season with 33 points in 35 games.

But Andersen is going to be the reason between the Hurricanes winning or losing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This kind of performance this season with the teammates in front of him gives Carolina as good a chance as anyone to knock off the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers in the playoffs down the road, should they get that far.

Toronto, by default, has to be lumped into that conversation as the Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division coming out of the break. Toronto is 7-2-1 in its last 10 and are one of the top home teams in the league at 16-4-1. The Maple Leafs closed the first half on a five-game winning streak but that included two wins against the struggling New Jersey Devils, the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders. In short, it hasn’t been as impressive as one would hope for.

This isn’t a slight on Jack Campbell for Toronto, but I trust Andersen if this comes to a goaltending duel. The over is 5-0 in Carolina’s last five against teams with a winning record, which is due to a fluid combination of a balanced offense and strong goaltending. The over is also 5-0 in Toronto’s last five following a win, and for as good as the Leafs are, I like the balanced attack of Carolina more. Give me the Canes. Hurricanes 4-3

The Hurricanes are 73-109 ATS on three or more days of rest.

The Hurricanes are 17-4 ATS off an under this season.

The Maple Leafs are 8-0 ATS off a road win by two goals or more this season.

The Maple Leafs are 16-4 ATS when avenging a loss against their opponent from earlier in the season.

Hurricanes:

Jordan Martinook -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov -- Vincent Trocheck -- Martin Necas

Nino Niederreiter -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast

Steven Lorentz -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin -- Tony DeAngelo

Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce

Ethan Bear -- Ian Cole

Frederik Andersen

Maple Leafs:

Michael Bunting -- Auston Matthews -- Mitchell Marner

Alexander Kerfoot -- John Tavares -- William Nylander

Ilya Mikheyev -- David Kampf -- Ondrej Kase

Pierre Engvall -- Jason Spezza -- Wayne Simmonds

Morgan Rielly -- TJ Brodie

Rasmus Sandin -- Justin Holl

Travis Dermott -- Timothy Liljegren

Jack Campbell