Maple Leafs vs Canadiens January 19th Betting Odds

Published on January 19th, 2013 1:29 pm EST
Finally - after months and months of waiting, the NHL will return to action on Saturday, January 19th, with an almost-full slate of games.

Saturday will feature a number of "rivalry" games, including the likes of the New Jersey Devils vs New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings vs St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers vs Boston Bruins. In addition, arguably the most storied rivalry of them all, the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens, will be taking place on Hockey Night in Canada.

Both teams have their shares of issues right now.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired general manager Brian Burke just a few days before the season started. The Leafs are currently in the midst of getting rid of some of their "bad" contracts so that they can fit some youth into their line-up. The Leafs still haven't addressed their biggest problem, however, and that is their goaltending. There have been rumors that they are in the market for Roberto Luongo, but nothing has been done as of yet.

The Montreal Canadiens are also a team in flux right now. Like the Maple Leafs, the Canadiens also have a new general manager. The Canadiens are coming off of a horrible campaign last season and are looking to quickly turn the ship around. The Canadiens have not been able to sign restricted free agent P.K. Subban as of yet, and their young star will not be in the line-up tonight.

After coming off of a multi-month lockout, the NHL had a quick training camp with no exhibition games, so expect some sloppy play (and plenty of injuries) in the first few weeks of the season.

--

Here are the current betting odds for the Maple Leafs / Canadiens game tonight:

Toronto Maple Leafs, +1 1/2, -255
Montreal Canadiens, -1 1/2, +215

Moneyline

Toronto Maple Leafs, +120
Montreal Canadiens, -140

Over/Under - 5 1/2 Goals

Over 5 1/2 Goals, +110
Under 5 1/2 Goals, -130