NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Ducks vs. Panthers (February 20)

Ducks vs. Panthers Odds

Anaheim owns the worst goals against average in the NHL this season, and will be in a tough matchup to hide that flaw Monday versus the Panthers.

Florida is priced as a gigantic favorite (-430) to collect two points and continue crawling back up the Eastern Conference standings.

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Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim has allowed a whopping 4.16 goals against per game this season, which is on pace to be the highest mark since the 1995-96 San Jose Sharks allowed 4.35.

It is difficult to decipher whether Anaheim's horrendous defensive play or lackluster goaltending has been the greater culprit, but each area has been a significant concern.

Over the past five games Anaheim has played to an xGF% of just 34.66, with an expected goals against per 60 of 4.30. Its poor goaltending duo has compounded the shaky defensive play in those outings, allowing 5.60 goals against.

Even for Anaheim this has been an abnormally bad recent sample, but it is still no far cry from what we have seen over the entirety of the season.

Anaheim is skating a number of veteran defenders in key roles, and names like John Klingberg continue to seem more and more checked out as the season rolls along.

John Gibson has played to a -10.7 GSAx rating and an .897 save percentage through 38 games and will likely start Monday afternoon.

Top forward Troy Terry remains on the IR and is unlikely to skate in this contest, despite attending an optional practice Friday.

Florida Panthers

Last season, Florida averaged 4.11 goals for per game, which is the most any team has managed since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Even with some meaningful overhaul to its roster in the offseason, it still would have been hard to predict the Panthers would struggle to put up offense the way they did early this season.

Injuries played a key role in the early struggles and perhaps adjusting to life under new coach Paul Maurice also was a factor, but Florida is now firing on all cylinders offensively.

Over the past 10 games, Florida has averaged 4.00 goals for per game, which is an elite clip and more on par with its preseason expectations.

Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk have formed some strong chemistry and are driving an elite offensive line alongside surprising breakout star Eetu Luostarinen.

Aleksander Barkov is playing between Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart on Florida's other top unit, which is a handful of talent for any team to keep in check.

Sergei Bobrovsky has played to a +4.1 GSAx rating and .902 save percentage this season, and will likely start Monday.

Ducks vs. Panthers Pick

Florida has displayed some dominant offensive form recently, and is likely to continue excelling there for the remainder of the season.

A home date versus the Ducks abysmal defense is a perfect spot for the Panthers offensive dominance to continue.

Oddsmakers are not foolish and see it that way as well with Florida's moneyline priced around -400. However, there are two prices that I believe are very playable in this contest.

FanDuel is offering the Panthers to win in regulation and the game to go over 5.5 at -120, which is very playable and allows us to win on all of this games most logical scores.

Florida is also priced at +100 to record over 4.5 goals in regulation. It seems crazy to say, but I think the Panthers will hit five here more often than that number suggests when we consider Anaheim's goals against trends.

Pick: Florida Panthers in Regulation and Over 5.5 Parlay -120 (FanDuel), Panthers Over 4.5 Goals in Regulation