Anaheim Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks Prediction, NHL Odds
The Ducks kicked off a three-game pacific division road trip Tuesday night in Seattle and will be playing on back-to-back nights for the ninth time this season. They are 1-7 when playing the second half of a back-to-back, plus adding in a bit of travel will make this matchup even tougher.
Both squads are well outside the playoff conversation and the Canucks will be the -225 favourite to win on the NHL odds with the total sitting at its usual 6.5.
Ducks vs. Canucks NHL Betting Odds
These Pacific Division bottom feeders have only met once so far this season, way back in November. Andrei Kuzmenko notched his first career hattrick on a four-point night where the Canucks destroyed the Ducks 8-3. These matchups are typically high scoring, with four of their past six meetings hitting the Over, so the estimated 6.5 total could be a blessing in disguise. Both teams went 2-1-1 in last year’s season series and they will meet each other two more times before this season comes to an end.
Last night in Seattle, the Ducks broke a five-game Under streak, making them 3-0-1 in their past four games versus western conference opponents. Anaheim has a 34-28-2 record on the total, thanks to giving up a league-high of four goals against per game. They have dropped their last two games against the spread and are 4-6 ATS in their past 10, making them 29-35 on the year.
Despite playing the Over more than 29 other teams with a 36-20-7 record on the total this season, the Canucks have played the Under in five of their past six games. They started the season as one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, but the offence has ticked down a bit, currently averaging just 3.3 goals per game. They have covered the spread in seven of their past eight games, bumping their record ATS to 34-29.
Anaheim Ducks
This young Anaheim Ducks team will have to take what they can out of their games after winning just 21 of their 64 games so far this season. The highlight for them last night was 21-year-old phenom Trevor Zegras scoring a filthy between-the-legs goal to get the Ducks on the board in their 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Zegras leads the team with 21 goals now but scored just his second goal in his past 10 games. Struggling goal scorer Max Comtois also netted his sixth of the year, snapping a 33-game slump.
John Gibson started in net for Anaheim and stopped 26 of the 30 shots thrown his way. He is statistically in the midst of the worst season of his career posting a save percentage of .902 and goals against average of 3.89.
Backup goalie Lukas Dostal will likely get the start in goal Wednesday night for the Ducks looking to improve his 3-5-1 record this season. He played well in his last appearance versus the Chicago Blackhawks, stopping 24 of 26 shots in a 4-2 Ducks win.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have won back-to-back games for the first time in 2023 after their 4-3 shootout win over the Nashville Predators Monday night.
They had a healthy 3-1 lead in the third period, but in true Canucks fashion, they blew it and the game needed extra time. After opening the scoring with his 30th of the season in the first period, Elias Petterson netted the shootout winner to end the game and give the Canucks their fifth win in their past eight games. 21-year-old Arturs Silov improved his record to 3-2 stopping 29 shots and all three of the Preds shootout attempts.
Silovs went back to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks on Tuesday, hinting that regular backup goalie Collin Delia will be available again after missing Monday’s game with an illness.
The culture in the Canucks locker room seems to be changing for the better under new head coach Rick Tocchet. After a disastrous first half of the season, Vancouver seems to have developed some kind of identity which they lacked before.
