Online Betting Overview Things are a little different for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks this season. While American bettors are keeping an eye on March Madness betting, hockey fans are watching an improved Toronto team take a stab at becoming a playoff contender. The Leafs have consistent goal scoring but not a lot of goal scoring depth. In goal, the Leafs have two very competent starters but cannot seem to settle on one or the other. On defense, the Leafs are fast and strong. This is a much different team that what the fans have been used to seeing the past few years. The only concern is that Toronto started out really strong this year and then hit a wall a month before the All-Star break. The Leafs cannot afford many more losing streaks like that one if it wants to make the playoffs this year. The Vancouver Canucks seem less interested in being a dominant regular season team and more interested in being consistent this year. The pay per head sports experts have noticed that the Canucks are in the top of the league standings but it does not hold the lead in the President’s Trophy race. That could be the result of trying to stay in a system rather than forgoing an identity just to win games. The one inescapable consistency the team is experiencing is that goaltender Roberto Luongo is still wildly unpredictable. There was a time this season when backup Cory Schneider was given the starting job in goal. Luongo has been, and always will be, the link to the problems that the Canucks have with winning important games. Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs is clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The fans in Toronto probably preferred the situation earlier in the season when the Leafs were battling the Boston Bruins for the Northeast Division lead. Toronto is 5-4-1 in the last 10 games and holds on to that playoff spot by three points. If there ever was such a thing as being securely positioned in eighth place, then the Maple Leafs are there. None of the teams below the Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings seem to be making a run, so now is the time for Toronto to put some space between itself and the bottom half of the Eastern Conference. Vancouver Canucks A bodog review of the Canucks’ season to this point shows that the Canucks have completely overcome struggles from earlier in the season to become a strong Western Conference team. In the last 10 games, Vancouver is 8-0-2 and is currently riding a two-game winning streak. The goaltending in Vancouver has definitely picked up and the goal scoring has always been there. The Bottom Line The Canucks are a strong home team and the Leafs are below .500 on the road. Considering that Vancouver has not lost a game in regulation in over two weeks, this will be an uphill battle for Toronto. Pick: Vancouver Canucks
