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Islanders vs. Maple Leafs: Betting odds, lines, Can Mathew Barzal dominate again?

By Michel Anderson

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 13: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebrates his first period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on November 13, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 13: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebrates his first period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on November 13, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 27: Michael Hutchinson #30 of the Toronto Maple Leafs sticks aside a second period shot against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on December 27, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 27: Michael Hutchinson #30 of the Toronto Maple Leafs sticks aside a second period shot against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on December 27, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Lineups

New York Islanders

Mathew Barzal will center Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey tonight. That could bode well. Anders Lee is a fine player but he doesn’t have the skating ability to keep up with Barzal. Anthony Beauvillier is just a better fit.

Michael Dal Colle gets a start with Ross Johnston hitting the scratchpad. We’ll see if scratching him can have the same effect it did on Kieffer Bellows at the AHL level. (I doubt it will.) At the very least, I hope Dal Colle can provide the Islanders with something against the Maple Leafs.

With Adam Pelehch out for the season, Noah Dobson steps in Nick Leddy‘s spot next to Johnny Boychuk. Leddy will move up to the top pair to play with Ryan Pulock.

In nets, Semyon Varlamov will get his fourth start in a row. With a 0.940SV% over his last three starts, he’s deserved to keep the crease and for Thomas Greiss to wait out at least one more game.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Islanders won’t have to face Frederick Andersen and his 2.67GAA and 0.916SV%. Instead, Michael Hutchinson and his 4.03GAA and 0.883SV% will get the start in Toronto.

Typically, playing a backup is a good thing. But for the New York Islanders, they more-often-than-not make backups look like Vezina candidates. So I’m not getting too hyped about facing the weaker of the two Maple Leafs goalies tonight.

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