The Anaheim Ducks haven’t made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2018, which with Buffalo having clinched a spot is now the second-longest active in the league behind Detroit. About two weeks ago, the Ducks had a better than 99% chance of getting in and were in the -500 range at the various sportsbooks, but they might be in the midst of a historic collapse on a six-game losing streak entering tonight’s penultimate home game of the regular season vs. San Jose.
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Entering this campaign, the Ducks were given an Over/Under points total of just 84.5 and were +250 for the playoffs. So if you bet Over points, you already have cashed. And to be clear, the team is still -1000 for extra hockey with No at +650. Anaheim benefits from playing in the Pacific in one regard, and I’ll explain.
A quick playoff reminder in that the top three clubs in each division make it and then the next two teams with the highest point totals are in as each conference’s wild card teams. The Ducks had been in control of the Pacific for much of the season but now sit third and are +750 third-favorites behind the two clubs ahead of them in Edmonton (-170) and Vegas (+230).
Before this skid, the Ducks had a five-point lead atop the division. And what is hurting them even more is five of the six losses have come in regulation, so not even a point.
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With 87 points, Anaheim is one point behind the top West wild card team in Utah, which is fourth in the Central and can’t get higher. For the second WC spot, the Ducks are only three points up on Nashville of the Central Division, and that’s the team we probably have to circle in terms of coach Joel Quenneville’s club missing out entirely. DraftKings allows you to bet on which team earns the West’s second WC spot, and the Ducks are +1000.
While I personally expected Anaheim to improve this season with some terrific young forward talent like Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke, the goaltending was a question mark entering the season and that has been the major issue during this skid.
The Ducks have lost four of the six by multiple goals and allowed four goals in three of the six (outscored 29-14), three goals in five and six in one. Both No. 1 Lukas Dostal and backup Ville Husso have been terrible – it should be Dostal tonight.
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Anaheim barely showed up Tuesday in a 5-0 loss to a tired Nashville team that had lost in a shootout less than 24 hours earlier. It was the Predators’ first shutout of the season. In the slide, Ducks have killed just 12 of 18 penalties – also giving up a goal eight seconds after a power play on Tuesday — and have cashed in only two of 24 power plays.
The power play badly misses Gauthier, who is having a breakout season with a team-leading 65 points along with 18 on the man advantage (10 goals, eight assists). But the 22-year-old American hasn’t played since March 30 due to injury and not expected back tonight.
Gauthier is one of four 20-goal scorers on the team, along with Carlsson, Sennecke and Chris Kreider. Mikael Granlund (19) and Troy Terry (18) are nearly there, and six 20-goal scorers would set a single-season franchise record.
The Ducks and Sharks have played three wildly entertaining, high-scoring matchups, with San Jose leading 2-1 thanks to a 4-3 home win in the last meeting on April Fools’ Day. That was loss No. 3 of this six-game skid for Anaheim, which blew a 3-2 lead with less than two minutes left.
Thus, a win tonight earns the Sharks one playoff head-to-head tiebreaker should the clubs finish even on points – if that’s the case, Anaheim did collapse. San Jose also has a game in hand.
But the Sharks are playing their second game in 24 hours and looked bad Wednesday in a 5-2 home loss to Edmonton – not even getting a point was crushing against an Oilers team in the second of a B2B. And that was with San Jose using its better goalie in Alex Nedeljkovic. That should mean Yaroslav Askarov tonight, and he’s 8-12-1 away with a 3.56 GAA.
One bright spot Wednesday was Macklin Celebrini scoring his 42nd goal for San Jose to give him 108 points this season, the third-most for a teenager behind Wayne Gretzky’s 137 and Sidney Crosby’s 120.Â
BetRivers same-game parlay (+105)
Anaheim better win tonight and its home finale Sunday vs. Vancouver because the team closes at likely West playoff teams Minnesota and Nashville. If you are fine with Ducks money line at around -175, then no need to add in a second leg. But in this space I try to get wagers as close to even or at plus-money if possible. While this alt total won’t save us from a 4-4 regulation tie, it at least pushes on 5-3. And I can see that score with one of the two up 4-3 and then potting one on an empty net in the final seconds. That leg would just fall off anyways and we are back to Ducks ML. Check out other expert picks in the daily newsletter.Â
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