Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: Picks, Predictions, Odds and Player Props

There's a great matchup in the NHL Eastern Conference on Saturday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Washington Capitals at the Scotia Bank Arena.

The Leafs are the leaders of the Atlantic Division at 22-12-2 after securing a comfortable 5-2 win over the Boston Red Wings on Friday to snap a two-game losing run.

The Capitals are second in the Metropolitan Division at 23-9-2 after losing three of their last five games, but could be boosted by the return from injury of their star player Alex Ovechkin, who has not played since suffering a broken fibula in a game against Utah on November 18.

It's the teams' third and final meeting of the regular season and each has one win so far after the Maple Leafs prevailed 4-3 in Washington in overtime in November, before the Capitals got their revenge with a 3-1 success in Canada three weeks ago.

Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs betting picks and predictions

Toronto Maple Leafs ML (-110)

While the Capitals could be boosted by the return of Ovechkin as he bids to resume his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record, the Maple Leafs will not have their star center Auston Matthews back on the ice.

The 27-year-old is expected to sit for another couple of games after aggravating an upper body injury and this will be the fourth straight game that he has missed.

However, both teams have plenty of depth and are still capable of winning without their stars and the Leafs continue to make good progress despite Matthews' frustrating injury.

They have won four of their last six games, including an impressive 5-3 road success over the Dallas Stars, while their latest loss was in a tough fixture against the league's top team, the Winnipeg Jets (25-10-1).

The Leafs are playing the second leg of a back-to-back, while the Caps are starting one, but the Canadian side had a fairly comfortable time in their 5-2 win against the Red Wings, taking a five-goal lead after the first two periods.

The Capitals have gone 10-6 without Ovechkin, but they have lost three of their last five, including a worrying 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (11-19-2), while they were held to a season-low 11 shots in Monday's 4-1 defeat by the Boston Bruins.

With a 14-6-0 home record this season, the Maple Leafs have decent value on the money line in a pick'em contest.

Mitchell Marner over 1.5 points (+180)

Mitch Marner should go into Saturday's game feeling good after blasting the third hat-trick of his career in the 5-2 win over the Red Wings on Friday and he is capable of adding another couple of points to his tally against the Capitals.

Marner has scored at least one point in each of his last seven appearances and 24 of the last 28 going further back.

He has had multiple points in 14 of his last 23 games and had a goal and an assist as the Maple Leafs won their first meeting with the Capitals this season.

Capitals games tend to be lower-scoring than the Maple Leafs' matchups, but the visitors gave up four goals to the Bruins in their last outing, so Marner and his teammates should feel good about their chances.

 John Tavares over 0.5 assists (+155)

John Tavares has been playing as the first-line center for the Maple Leafs in Matthews' absence and the Ontarian appears to be relishing the responsibility.

Tavares assisted Marner's first two goals against the Bruins, having scored both of his team's goals in the previous game against the Jets.

He had gone on a three-game run of supplying at least one assist before that, with one helper against the Stars and Islanders and two against the Sabres, and he appears to be in the form to contribute at least one assist on Saturday.

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Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs odds

Washington Capitals	-110 ML
Toronto Maple Leafs	-110 ML
Puck Line	TOR Maple Leafs -1.5
Total	O/U 6.0

Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs player props

Anytime Goalscorer

Alex Ovechkin (WAS Capitals)	+145
William Nylander (TOR Maple Leafs)	+150
John Tavares (TOR Maple Leafs)	+170
Connor McMichael (WAS Capitals)	+180
Mitchell Marner (TOR Maple Leafs)	+190
Dylan Strome (WAS Capitals)	+225

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.