Anaheim Ducks vs. Vegas Golden Knights Game 2 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
The Vegas Golden Knights look to take care of business on home ice when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal.
Vegas took Game 1 on Monday by a score of 3-1, backed by a 33-save effort from Carter Hart in net. Hart is heating up in the post-season, posting a .910 save percentage through seven games and going over .950 in each of his last two outings.
The good news for the Ducks is they showed they can play with the experienced Golden Knights; the shots in Game 1 finished 34-22 for Anaheim and Vegas head coach John Tortorella post-game openly said the Ducks were the better team. Vegas’ winning goal came off a controversial non-icing call as well.
Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena goes at 9:30 p.m. EDT with the Golden Knights a -160 moneyline favourite at home and the over-under at 6.5 on the NHL odds.
Ducks vs. Golden Knights NHL Betting Odds
Anaheim’s road woes continue as they are now 1-3 on the road in the playoffs and have dropped six of their last eight road contests overall. Vegas is now 23-13-9 on home ice this season, and winners of seven of their last eight home outings. With Monday’s 3-1 finish, the under has now hit in five of the last six Ducks–Golden Knights battles played in Vegas.
Vegas is now -375 to win the series, and Anaheim at +300 odds. A Golden Knights sweep is priced at +425, which could have some serious value given the Ducks’ inexperience. Anaheim currently has the second-longest Stanley Cup odds at +4000.
Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim’s power play finished eight-for-16 in their opening-round series win against Edmonton. In Game 1 at Vegas, the Ducks were blanked on four attempts with the man-advantage. Getting that unit back in a groove in Game 2 and so on is undoubtedly one of Anaheim’s top priorities. That means getting the puck to Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim’s leading scorer this season with 41 goals and three on the power play last series. Gauthier finished with just two shots on Monday, tied for his lowest total since Game 1 against Edmonton.
With an assist on Mikael Granlund’s lone Ducks goal in Game 1, Jackson LaCombe has reached double digits in points this post-season. LaCombe’s 10 points leads the Ducks in the playoffs and he’s one of six players to have double-digit points this post-season.
Anaheim also needs a little more out of Lukas Dostal in net. Dostal’s .878 save percentage these playoffs ranks 15th out of 18 goalies who have played at least 31.25 per cent of their team’s scheduled games in the playoffs.
Vegas Golden Knights
Brett Howden’s scoring touch is coming in the clutch for the Golden Knights. Last round it was Howden breaking a 2-2 series tie with a Game 5 overtime winner, and to open this second-round series he opened the game’s scoring with his fifth goal of the playoffs. Mitch Marner collected the primary assist on the Howden goal, and Marner is now up to a team-high nine points in the playoffs. With the game-winning goal, Ivan Barbashev has kept his consistent Stanley Cup playoffs going — he has one point in all of Vegas’ seven post-season contests.
Carter Hart will surely get the crease again in Game 2, as he’s providing arguably the one thing missing from this Vegas team this season: consistent goaltending. Outside of a blip in Game 3 at Utah, Hart has turned away at least 22 shots in six of seven games for the Golden Knights these playoffs.
