Face-off: 1230 ET, 29/01/2022
Venue: Canadian Tire Centre
Anaheim beat Ottawa 4-0 at Honda Center a couple of months ago and are playing well enough to confirm that superiority at Canadian Tire Centre.
To be fair, the Senators have improved since that drubbing themselves but preference is still for the Ducks to shade a closer contest.
We’re going with an away win on the money line at 1.8 in the first of our Ottawa Senators vs Anaheim Ducks predictions.
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Ottawa Senators Odds
Ottawa have picked up at least a point in four straight matches but wins over Columbus and Buffalo have been sandwiched by overtime losses to Washington and Carolina.
The Senators led 2-1 against the Hurricanes until Nino Niederreiter levelled late on in the third period and Andrei Svechnikov settled a shootout.
That was another gutsy effort and Tim Stutzle said: “I think you can see that everyone is stepping up for each other.
“We’re working really hard. Everyone is hitting really hard and playing good defensively and I think that helps a lot.”
However, there was a hint of good fortune about Ottawa’s goals and their injury problems up front worsened when Josh Norris left in the first period.
He joins fellow forwards Colin White, Shane Pinto, Connor Brown, Drake Batherson and Dylan Gambrell on the treatment table, along with defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
Ottawa’s last four games have produced under 5.5 goals, so 3.5 for that to happen again combined with an Anaheim win stands out from the NHL odds.
Anaheim Ducks Odds
Anaheim made it three wins from four outings when prevailing 5-4 at Montreal, with the only reversal being a shootout defeat at Toronto.
The Ducks led 3-0 after the first period against the Canadiens and 5-2 at the end of the second before having to fend off a late fightback.
Trevor Zegras scored twice and Troy Terry had a goal and two assists as they stayed second in the Pacific Division.
Assistant coach Mike Stothers admitted there had been some nerves in the closing stages, stating: “We let Montreal back into the game.
“You always worry about things like that. There’s a right way to bring it home and we’re still working on that.”
Forward Adam Henrique added: “I think if you look back at the game, it didn’t go so smooth in how we want it. We have to be able to shut that game down.”
Anaheim have had a number of narrow wins this term, though, so 6.75 they also edge this by one goal in regular time completes our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
OTTAWA 2-3 Carolina (OT)
Montreal 4-5 ANAHEIM
Head-to-head: Anaheim 4-0 Ottawa
