Anaheim vs Colorado Hockey Betting?
Slumping Ducks Try to Right Ship Against Streaking Avs
The Anaheim Ducks will try to cool off the Colorado Avalanche when the two teams meet in Denver on Friday night, but it won’t be easy. The Ducks hit a new season low on Wednesday night losing 7-2 to the lowly Calgary Flames.
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Anaheim (43-16-1-6) at Colorado (43-18-2-3)
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 14, 2014
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Broadcast: FS-W, ALT2
Ducks vs. Avs Betting Lines
Anaheim Ducks -105 Ov 5½ -105
Colorado Avalanche -105 Un 5½ -105
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That loss stretched Anaheim’s winless streak to four. The Avs on the other hand have made a strong push up the Western Conference standings on the heels of a 6-1 stretch and now sit third in the Western Conference staring up at the Hawks and the Blues for top spot. These two teams have faced each other just once this season which resulted in a 6-1 win for Colorado in the season debut for both teams on October 2.
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The Anaheim Ducks are 0-2-2 in their last four games, 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and 7-8-2 in their last 17 games overall – their slump has been long and it has been drastic. A once vaunted offense has recorded just five goals in the last three games and the power play in just 2 for 35 in their last 11 games overall.
The top dogs have been OK for the Ducks however – Ryan Getzlaf has four assists in his past five games and Corey Perry has five goals and an assist in his last five. But Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler each have just one point in their last four games and Teemu Selanne is inexplicably pointless in his last six games. Simply put, there isn’t a whole lot of balance on the Ducks right now.
Defensively the Ducks have lost their way a little bit – Jonas Hiller allowed three goals on five shots Wednesday and Frederik Andersen gave up the final four goals. Hiller is 0-1-1 in his last two starts with a 3.95 GAA and .773 save percentage while Andersen is 0-1-1 in his last two with a 3.96 GAA and .837.
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The Colorado Avalanche have rediscovered their game – one that had them among the top 3 NHL teams early in the season. The reason for their recent uptick? Defense and goaltending. The Avs have allowed only two goals in six of their last seven games including a 3-2 win Wednesday night against Chicago.
Semyon Varlamov has been terrific. He stopped 37 shots Wednesday in the win and is 5-1-0 in his last six starts with a 2.17 GAA. Jean Sebastein Guigere has also been good – 3-1-0 in his last five games with a 2.37 GAA and .927 save percentage.
Offensively the Avs have been getting it done as well. Matt Duchene extended his career-best scoring streak to nine games (five goals, nine assists) Wednesday, the longest active streak in the NHL, Ryan O’Reilly has 12 points in eight games, Tyson Barrie has three points in two games and Erik Johnson has seven points in his last five games.
There are some struggling Avs however – Jamie McGinn has just one point in his last seven games, Nathan McKinnon has cooled off and is now pointless in his last three games and Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t recorded a point in his last five games.
Dave’s FREE NHL Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• ANA are 11-3 in their last 14 road games.
• ANA are 9-3 in their last 12 Fri. games.
• Under is 19-8-2 in ANA last 29 Fri. games.
• COL are 18-5 in their last 23 Fri. games.
• COL are 20-8 in their last 28 overall.
• Over is 9-4 in COL last 13 games following a win.
• ANA are 18-7 in the last 25 meetings.
• ANA are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Colorado.
Present form makes this a somewhat easy pick. Almost everything is going right for the Avalanche right now while it seems that nothing is going right for Anaheim. It’s not Anaheim’s slump is a new thing – they haven’t been playing well for quite a stretch. The slide continues for one team Friday while the surge continues for another.
Pick: Colorado Avalanche -105
