Livetipsportal.com presents you tonight's matchup between Ducks and Caps in the National Hockey League at the Honda Center of Anaheim.
The
Anaheim Ducks (10-7-2) are currently 5th in the Western Conference, and tonight's game is the last of a season-long six games homestand. Although they've got an excellent 9-2-2 record in their last 13 games, after loosing four straight games to open the season, they are only 1-2-1 in their last four games. However, their last game was a 2-0 win over division rivals Los Angeles Kings.
The
Ducks had some staff issues lately, with Brian Burke stepping down from his general manager job last week. This could cause some distraction. The injury to
François Beauchemin, out for the remaining of the season, will also be a problem. Beauchemin was averaging over 25 minutes of icetime per game this season, just like he did the past two seasons. Sure, veterans Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger are still there to provide a solid defensive play, but this top-duo will probably be splitted to keep defensive depth throughout the pairings. This generally leads to a lack of chemistry in the defensive end for some games, and the Caps should benefit of it.
Anaheim has been pretty
average at home so far, going only 5-5-2. Part of that is due to allowing too many goals (averaging 3.00 GA/G at home), especially on the penalty kill, which is ranked only 21st in the league at 80.4%.
The Ducks
allow too many shots on goal, averaging 32.4 shots against per game, 26th in the league in this department. However, they have a curious and unexpected stat: they've got a horrible 2-6-1 record when they are outshooting their opponents, but a very strong 8-1-0 record when they are outshooted! Go figure. A more logical stat for them is the influence of scoring the first goal of the game. When they do, they are 9-2-2. When they trail first, they are 1-5-0. So this first goal will be very important for the Ducks...
Last but not least, Anaheim has some trouble in terms of goaltending lately, with
Jean-Sebastien Giguere going only 0-2-1 with 4.55 GAA and 85.1% over his last three starts. So Jonas Hiller is expected to be in goal, after recording his first NHL shutout past sunday against Los Angeles. So far this season, Hiller is 3-1-2 with 2.18 GAA and 92.6%.
The
Washington Capitals (10-4-3) are leading the South-East division and ranked third in the Eastern Conference. This game in Anaheim opens a four-games Western road trip. They haven't loss a game in regulation time since November 1st and a 5-0 defeat in Buffalo. Since then, the Caps are 5-0-2.
Three Caps players are uncertain for this game, being listed day-to-day with minor injuries. So they may have to play without defenseman
Shaone Morrisonn, center
Sergei Fedorov, and left winger
Alexander Semin, who currently leads the team with 13 goals and 14 assists in 16 games. But even without them, this Caps team can make a good result. Especially since their star forward
Alexander Ovechkin and promising youngster center
Nicklas Bäckström have combined for 21 points and a plus-21 rating over the last four games, after having both a slow start to the season.
Washington has been rather
average on the road so far, with a 3-4-2 record. This should be better if their powerplay was running better, as it clocks only 16.2% of the time on the road. But with Ovechkin and Bäckström finally in shape, those numbers should go up fast, as shown by the recent games where the Caps scored a powerplay goal in each of their last three games, going 3-for-8 (37.5%). Plus, this team is a solid offensive firepower, ranked 5th with 3.24 goals per game and 6th with 31.5 shots per game. Against the weak Ducks penalty kill and their loss of Beauchemin, they should have room to find the net.
Just like their opponent of the day, the Caps have some troubles in terms of goaltending.
Jose Theodore was brought in to be the starter, but he has been far from being impressive so far, with a 5-3-1 record, 3.11 GAA and 89.0%. Decent backup stats, but clearly not the stats you'd expect from a starting goalie. On the other end,
Brent Johnson gets a 5-1-2 record with 2.15 GAA and 93.1%. Those are excellent stats! And there's nearly no doubt that he will be in goal tonight.
The 3 keys of the game:
The first goal: Eventhough Washington performs well no matter who scores first (6-2-1 when scoring first, 4-2-2 when scored on first), it's a whole different story for the Ducks. And with a deep reorganisation of their defensive pairs, they should be the ones allowing that first goal.
Discipline: Both teams have a powerplay on fire and a rather weak penalty kill, so the special units will be a key factor. The Ducks are one of the most penalized teams, 4th with 19.5 penalty minutes per game, while the Caps are the 5th least penalized team with 12.5 minutes per game. Once again, the Caps get the edge.
Goalies: Due to struggling starters, both teams will probably play with their backups, who both have been surprisingly good so far. However, they are not used to assume a starter job. If Brent Johnson, 31 years old, can rely on his 234 NHL games experience, things are a bit different for Jonas Hiller, 26 years old, who played only 29 NHL games in his career so far. Plus, this last one comes from his very first NHL shutout, which should give him an excess of confidence, a classic trap for young goalies.
Advice:
Bet on the
Washington Capitals, that's to say choice 2. The best odd for that is 2.75 at Betsson.
