Wings and Ducks Look for Edge in Game 5
The Anaheim Ducks return home Wednesday night for Game 5 of their Western Conference quarter-final series with the Detroit Red Wings, a team that has beaten them three times in four meetings at the Honda Center this year.
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The Ducks may have been a tad unlucky to not win Game 4 and return home with a 3-1 lead but they gave up the lead late on Monday and eventually fell in overtime. Anaheim sill looks like the better team in the series but the Wings have proven that if they are going to go down it won’t be without a serious fight!
Detroit Red Wings (26-18-3-5) at Anaheim Ducks (32-12-5-3)
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Broadcast: RDS, TSN, NBCSN, FS-D, FS-D+, PRIME
Series tied 2-2
Wings vs. Ducks Betting Lines from betonline.com
Detroit Red Wings +1½ -250 +129 Ov 5 +114
Anaheim Ducks -1½ +210 -142 Un 5 -126
The Detroit Red Wings are a different team than the ones that have qualified for the playoffs in the last decade but one thing remains constant – they will compete until the end no matter the opponent and the situation. After being shut out in Game 3 and after trailing through two periods in Game 4 the Wings’ never-say-die attitude was on full display – Pavel Datsyuk tied the game with seven minutes to go in regulation and “the new guard” Damien Brunner scored in overtime to even the series.
Brunner has four points, including the overtime winner Monday night, in his first four Stanley Cup Playoff games, Dan Cleary has three points in the four games and Brenden Smith has recorded two points in the last two games. Some production from Nik Kronwall would certainly help however – he has been held pointless in the series so far.
One area the Wings have been getting outplayed is between the pipes – Jimmy Howard needs to step up and steal a game for his squad. He has an underwhelming .900 save percentage in the four games with a somewhat disappointing 2.82 GAA.
The Anaheim Ducks finished the regular season with the third best record in the NHL – they were superb top-to-bottom. The reason they are not playing to close out the series Wednesday night is the fact that they just couldn’t drive a nail in the Wings’ coffin – they were unable to close Game 4 out.[ad-4437448]
Offensively the Ducks have been the superior team – 13 goals so far in the four games. Ryan Getzlaf has four points in the first four games of the series, Bobby Ryan and Kyle Palmieri each have three points in the last three games and Teemu Selanne has three points in the four games of the series so far. Corey Perry has yet to find the back of the net in the series – something that is bound to change sooner rather than later.
Anaheim has been the better defensive team as well so far – nine goals allowed and a stretch of 100 minutes in their opposition’s building without surrendering a goal. Jonas Hiller has a 2.10 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in the series and is outplaying Jimmy Howard so far.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Under is 6-1-1 in DET last 8 road games.
• Under is 19-6-5 in DET last 30 vs. Pacific.
• DET are 6-2 in their last 8 overall.
• Under is 5-1-2 in ANA last 8 vs. Central.
• Under is 15-5-2 in ANA last 22 overall.
• ANA are 8-3 in their last 11 Wed. games.
• Under is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in Anaheim.
• Home team is 37-16-1 in the last 54 meetings.
The Ducks have been the better team in the series and they probably deserve a better fate than an even series. They will be paid off on Wednesday night. Simply put, the Ducks are the deeper, more well rounded squad. Give the Wings credit for hanging around for as long as they have but I can’t see them dodging a bullet again.
Pick: Anaheim Ducks -142
