The Toronto Maple Leafs will travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Nationwide Arena with the game scheduled to start at 7:00 PM ET on Friday evening and will air on Bally Sports Ohio.

Toronto is one of the top teams in the league this season as they enter this matchup in 3^rd place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 17-9-6 and 40 points which also puts them in a three-team tie with the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals for the 5^th best record in the Eastern Conference. Toronto’s success this season can be attributed to their prolific offensive play as they enter this game averaging the 2^nd most goals per game in the NHL with an average of 3.71 goals per game and have the 4^th best power-play success rate at 26.37%. 

Auston Matthews leads the NHL in goals with 28 while William Nylander is tied for the 4^th most points in the NHL with 46 points. However, the Maple Leafs are a bottom 10 team defensively this season as they rank 23^rd in the NHL in goals allowed per game with an average of 3.39 goals allowed per game. The Maple Leafs have lost three of their last four games including Wednesday’s 2-4 loss at home against the Ottawa Senators and will be looking to avoid their 4^th loss in their last five games when they travel to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the worst teams in the NHL this season as they enter this game in last place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 11-18-7 and 29 points which also gives them the 2^nd worst record in the Eastern Conference, only better than the Ottawa Senators. The Blue Jackets are also on a three-game losing streak following a 3-4 overtime loss on the road against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday which also includes a 1-4 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday. 

The Blue Jackets have also been the worst team defensively in the league as they are allowing the most goals per game with an average of 3.66 goals allowed per game which doesn’t bode well for Columbus as they will be facing the 2^nd highest-scoring team in the NHL. The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to end their three-game losing streak when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday evening. 

BookMaker has the Toronto Maple Leafs listed as -205 moneyline favorites on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday evening. Toronto is 6-2-2 in the last ten and 2-0-1 in the last three meetings. The Maple Leafs have won by an average margin of .5 goals per game in the last ten and 1.33 goals per game in the last three games in the series.

Toronto is the better team this season and has been the better team in the series, going 6-2-2 in the last ten and 2-0-1 in the last three meetings. However, the Maple Leafs have only won by an average margin of .5 goals per game over the last ten and 1.33 goals per game over the last three games in the series. Take the puck line for the Columbus Blue Jackets at +1.5 when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday evening.