PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* NHL Total MASSACRE >> 67% This Week!
(NHL) Anaheim vs. Florida,
Total: 5.00 | 100.00 Under
Result: Loss
Total: 5.00 | 100.00 Under
Result: Loss
The set-up: The 28-15-9 Anaheim Ducks are three points behind the San Jose Sharks (68-to-65) in the Pacific Division as they open a rugged six-game road trip tonight at the 22-19-10 Florida Panthers. The Panthers (54 points) are sitting outside of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, as the Flyers own the final spot (58 points), with the Maple Leafs (55 points) between Florida and Philly.
Anaheim: The Ducks just completed a 10-3-1 in January but half (five) of those wins came against cellar-dwellers Colorado and Arizona. This six-game road trip will be a very difficult trek. It begins tonight in Miami at the BB&T Center, with Anaheim then playing, in order, at the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild. Head coach Randy Carlyle is in the first year as part of his second stint with the Ducks. He relies heavily on Anaheim's top three scorers, Ryan Kesler (40 points), Getzlaf (38 points) and Corey Perry (36), who are all over 30 years old. However, the Ducks are also now getting some decent secondary scoring from Jakob Silfverberg (32 points), Rickard Rakell (team-high 21 goals to go with 30 points) and Andrew Cogliano (22 points).
Florida: In contrast to Anaheim's vets, the Panthers have a younger nucleus of standouts that includes Aaron Ekblad, 20; Jared McCann, 20; Denis Malgin, 20; Aleksander Barkov, 21; Michael Matheson, 22; Jonathan Huberdeau, 23; Vincent Trocheck, 23; Alex Petrovic, 24; Nick Bjugstad, 24; Reilly Smith, 25; and Jonathan Marchessault, 26. Ekblad, Matheson and Petrovic figure to be cornerstones on defense. The rest of the aforementioned young guys are building-block forwards. Of course there is Jaromir Jagr, the team's 44-year-old right winger, who has nine goals and is third on the team with 29 points
The pick: The Panthers are coming off a 6-5 Win (Tuesday) against Ottawa and the Ducks are allowing 2.92 GPG on the road. I expect a high-scoring game and will make the Over a 10* play.
Anaheim: The Ducks just completed a 10-3-1 in January but half (five) of those wins came against cellar-dwellers Colorado and Arizona. This six-game road trip will be a very difficult trek. It begins tonight in Miami at the BB&T Center, with Anaheim then playing, in order, at the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild. Head coach Randy Carlyle is in the first year as part of his second stint with the Ducks. He relies heavily on Anaheim's top three scorers, Ryan Kesler (40 points), Getzlaf (38 points) and Corey Perry (36), who are all over 30 years old. However, the Ducks are also now getting some decent secondary scoring from Jakob Silfverberg (32 points), Rickard Rakell (team-high 21 goals to go with 30 points) and Andrew Cogliano (22 points).
Florida: In contrast to Anaheim's vets, the Panthers have a younger nucleus of standouts that includes Aaron Ekblad, 20; Jared McCann, 20; Denis Malgin, 20; Aleksander Barkov, 21; Michael Matheson, 22; Jonathan Huberdeau, 23; Vincent Trocheck, 23; Alex Petrovic, 24; Nick Bjugstad, 24; Reilly Smith, 25; and Jonathan Marchessault, 26. Ekblad, Matheson and Petrovic figure to be cornerstones on defense. The rest of the aforementioned young guys are building-block forwards. Of course there is Jaromir Jagr, the team's 44-year-old right winger, who has nine goals and is third on the team with 29 points
The pick: The Panthers are coming off a 6-5 Win (Tuesday) against Ottawa and the Ducks are allowing 2.92 GPG on the road. I expect a high-scoring game and will make the Over a 10* play.
