The Florida Panthers will host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. EST in Amerant Bank Arena. Check out our Anaheim Ducks vs Florida Panthers pick and prediction here!

While it is still early in the season, the Panthers are 3rd in the Atlantic Division with ten points in ten games. They are still only four points behind the Canadiens for the top spot in the division, though. They are 4-1 at home but 1-4 on the road thus far. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 6th in the Pacific division, obtaining only nine points in the first eight games of the season. They are 1-1 at home this season and 3-2-1 on the road. Florida is heavily favored at a -175 money line while the total is set at an even six goals. Can the Ducks pull off an upset win on the road?

 

Ducks Desperate to Escape the Bottom

Anaheim fell in their latest outing to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 4-3. Troy Terry led the Ducks with two points on the day, including a goal and an assist, while Ryan Poehling and Jacob Trouba also scored for the Ducks. Cutter Gauthier was one of five other players to record an assist in the effort, but he led the team in shots with seven. Lukas Dostal made 29 of 33 stops as the netminder in this one.

The Ducks currently rank 5th in goals scored, 18th on the power play, 3rd in shots per game, and 21st in face-off win percentage. Troy Terry leads the team in points at the moment with nine and has the most assists with six. Cutter Gauthier has the most goals with five, and Ross Johnston has 24 penalty minutes to his name. Terry has a forward best +5, and Leo Carlsson has the most time spent on the ice on average among offensive skaters at 19:09. Chris Kreider is the only one with multiple power-play goals so far, and he has three. Terry has a team-high four power play assists, and Gauthier leads the squad in shots with 38. Anaheim has four players listed on the injury report, including Kreider and Mikael Granlund. Both, along with Radko Guda,s are listed as day-to-day, while Ryan Strome is the only one who is confirmed out for this upcoming contest.

On the defensive side, Jacob Trouba has the most points with five, tying for the lead in goals with two and leading outright in assists with three. He also has a team-high +8. Olen Zellweger has four penalty minutes to his name, and Jackson LaCombe has spent the most time on the ice on average at over 25 minutes per game. LaCombe and Zellweger have a power play assist each, and the latter barely edges out the former in shots with 18. Lukas Dostal remains the primary goalie for the Ducks with a 3.02 GAA and an 89.9% save percentage as well. As a unit, the defense ranks 27th in goals against per game, 22nd on the penalty kill, and 26th in shots against.

Panthers Looking for a Three-Peat

Florida won their most recent contest to the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-0. A.J. Greer had a goal and an assist while Cole Schwindt and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers. Four other players had an assist in the effort and Carter Verhaeghe had a team-high five shots. Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t have too much work in this one, but still was effective by making 17 of 17 saves to earn a shutout win.

Florida’s offense ranks 29th in goals per game, 13th on the power play, 15th in shots per game, and 27th in the face-off circle. Brad Marchand leads most categories with eleven points, five goals, six assists, twelve penalty minutes, and 34 shots on goal. Evan Rodrigues has the highest +/- among forwards with a +2 and Sam Reinhart is the only forward with an average of more than 20 minutes of ice time. Anton Lundell and Mackie Samoskevich are the only Panthers with multiple power-play goals this season, and Brad Marchand has a team-high three power-play assists.

Seth Jones leads the defense with five points, although Aaron Ekblad is the only defensive player to score for Florida thus far. Gustav Forsling has a +3 to lead the unit, and Nikko Mikola has a defense-high eight penalty minutes. Ekblad is also logging the most average time on ice with a 23:46 time. Ekblad has scored on the power play, and Seth Jones has the most power play assists with three. Sergei Bobrovsky is the undisputed #1 goalie for Florida, and he has a 2.28 GAA with a 90.3% save percentage to start the year. Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov are two of the four players listed as out for this upcoming contest. In total, Florida ranks 13th in goals against, 16th on the penalty kill, and 2nd in shots against.

Ducks vs Panthers PickSpread Pick for Ducks vs Panthers Florida Panthers -1.5 (4 units)

Florida has won nine times out of their last ten against the Panthers, and they are the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions so excuse me if I have more confidence in them than Anaheim. While the Ducks are scoring at a terrific rate, the consistency will more likely not last. Anaheim’s defense could still use some work, and Florida should exploit that. Considering Anaheim is considering this season an improvement and the Panthers are “off to a struggling start” with nearly the same number of points, it’s clear where the expectations for each squad are. I like the Panthers at home here due to their 4-1 record, and Sergei Bobrovsky should be able to stop Anaheim’s attack enough for Florida to come up with a relatively easy win.

Over/Under pick for Ducks vs Panthers

The main concern I have is with Anaheim’s offense vs Bobrovsky. I have much more confidence in Florida putting up 3-4 goals in this one, but as good as the Ducks have been on offense, they have scored only one goal in three of their first eight games this season. However, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here, as I feel good enough to bank on them scoring twice. Florida should be able to cover the rest against a suspect defense, and Marchand is still in prime form. Add an empty-net goal for good measure to get this game over the hump. Anaheim has hit the over in their last three games in a row, and Florida has scored at least three goals in their last three games in a row. I expect them to have a similar stat line here.

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