Mired in a franchise-record 12-game losing streak, it’s hard to imagine things getting much tougher for the Anaheim Ducks right now. The Ducks go up against their old coach Bruce Boudreau and the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center tonight, where sportsbooks opened Anaheim as a +145 road underdog with a total of 5.5.
- The total has gone UNDER in four of the Ducks’ last five games vs the Wild (avg. combined score: 4.2).
- The total has gone UNDER in five of the Ducks’ last seven games (avg. combined score: 5.29).
- The Wild are 0-5 ATS in their last five games.
Wounded Ducks have been hit with the injury bug
Boudreau, who led the Ducks to four straight Pacific Division titles before getting fired in 2016, surely won’t be jealous of Anaheim’s current situation. The Ducks fell to 0-8-4 SU on their ugly slide in the wake of a 3-1 setback to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Anaheim led Detroit 1-0 entering the third period before giving up three goals in a game that saw forwards Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Kesler suffer injuries, leaving the club with only 10 forwards.
To say the Ducks have been fade material of late would be a vast understatement. If you bet $100 against the Ducks in every game during their losing streak, you'd be up $1,092.
Minnesota avoided a third straight defeat by edging the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday to bounce back from a pair of three-goal losses to Philadelphia and Detroit. The Wild got a pair of badly needed goals from Eric Staal and Nino Niederreiter against the Kings, as both players had only one goal apiece in their previous 14 games entering the contest. Minny topped Anaheim 5-1 in the last meeting between the squads on November 9, spearheaded by a goal and two assists from Jason Zucker.
Ducks, Wild have a habit of going UNDER
When it comes to betting trends, the UNDER might be worth a look tonight. In the past five meetings between the Ducks and Wild, the UNDER is 4-1 with an average combined score of 4.2 goals. The UNDER has also paid out in seven of Minnesota’s last eight in the Gopher State with an average combined score of 4.8 goals.
The Ducks have obviously been an atrocious straight-up bet during their slide, but they haven’t been covering the puckline either. Ahead of tonight’s game, Anaheim is 1-4 on the puckline in its past five. The Ducks’ +1.5 puckline is available at -190 at Sportsbook, while the Wild’s -1.5 number is listed at +165.
Stalock set to start for the Wild
Alex Stalock is slated to get the nod in between the pipes for Minnesota tonight. Stalock (6-4-0, 2.67 goals-against average, .901 save percentage) is making his second straight start after turning aside 31 of 33 shots in a win over the Kings.
My pick: take the UNDER
Fading Anaheim has been a great strategy during its slide, but you’re not going to find much value in backing the Wild tonight due to their -170 price. Instead I’m going to turn my focus to the UNDER based on the aforementioned totals trends. The Ducks’ punchless offense has led to a plethora of UNDERs, as five of Anaheim’s past seven have gone below the total.
