NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Ducks vs Rangers (Friday, December 15)
Pictured: Frank Vatrano. (Photo by Lawrence Scott/Getty Images)
Ducks vs. Rangers Odds
| Ducks Odds | +240 |
| Rangers Odds | -298 |
| Over / Under | 6 +120 / -105 |
Looking to get back on a winning path, the New York Rangers will host the Anaheim Ducks at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The Rangers are in the midst of their first downturn of the season and will be facing an Anaheim team that is knocking at the door of the league basement after a tough stretch over the past month.
With both sides looking to find their form, here's why bettors should expect a high-scoring contest on Friday night. My Ducks vs. Rangers prediction is below.
After a promising 9-6-0 start to the season, the Ducks have hit a wall. They've won just once in their past 13 games and opened their current four-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders.
Heading into Thursday's games, the Ducks are 31st in the NHL standings. Wednesday's result notwithstanding, their special teams are generally solid, but their expected goals share (46.59%) at 5-on-5 is fifth-worst in the league.
The Ducks have been without three of their key young guns as Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale have all been dealing with injuries. All three are reportedly with the team on this road trip, but haven't returned to the ice.
Those absences leave the Ducks without much offensive punch, especially since Frank Vatrano has cooled off following his red-hot start. He's now pointless in his past four games.
Between the pipes, John Gibson is hanging in there. He has appeared in 11 of Anaheim's past 12 games and still sports a .905 save percentage and 1.3 goals saved above expected. However, Gibson has given up three or more goals in his past five starts. And after some strong early play earned him Rookie of the Month honors in October, backup Lukas Dostal has struggled, though his most recent outing was decent — a 24-save effort in a 1-0 loss to Chicago on Dec. 7.
After a scorching start, Peter Laviolette's Rangers have hit their first rough patch of the year. They've lost three of their past four, all with Igor Shesterkin in net, and were outscored 17-5 in those games. The lone bright spot, recently, was Jonathan Quick's standout performance in last Sunday's 4-1 win over his old team, the Los Angeles Kings.
Even through this rough patch, the power play has continued to produce. The normally airtight penalty kill has been a little more porous, with goals allowed in the past two games. And the Rangers' puck-possession game at 5-on-5 is not as strong as you might expect for a team perched atop the tough Metropolitan Division: it's middle-of-the-pack at 49.82%.
The Rangers are going into a back-to-back set and will be playing a big road game on Saturday in Boston. So, it's likely that the goalies will split the starts — and while it's not a sure sign, Quick was first off the ice at Thursday's practice. He could get the nod against another California team that he's very familiar with.
Ducks vs. Rangers
Betting Pick & Prediction
Not surprisingly, the Rangers come into this contest as heavy favorites.
Could the Ducks pull off the upset? Maaaybe. The Rangers did drop a 6-2 decision to Ottawa last week, though that was on the road. But they also came close to blowing a big lead before eking out a 6-5 win over the San Jose Sharks on home ice on Dec. 3. Even when they've been picking up points, they haven't been playing the near-perfect hockey that we saw early in the season.
With that in mind, the over/under looks like the best line to target. The Ducks don't score a ton, but they got three in their most recent game. Vatrano and Ryan Strome could also be due for strong nights against their former team.
The over/under is set at a relatively conservative six goals. Look for Friday's matchup to be more high scoring, and back the over accordingly.
Pick: Over 6 (-115 at DraftKings) | Play to -130
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