NHL Hockey Betting: Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks

Canadian hockey fans can be excused if they assume it’s just a cruel ‘April Fools’ joke but the Vancouver Canucks actually won last night in San Jose. Vancouver won for just the first time in ten games and avenged a 4-1 loss at home to the Sharks earlier this week. But before you get too excited let’s put this in perspective–San Jose has been a downright neurotic home team all season long. The Sharks have the second best road record in the NHL at 26-10-3 (Washington has just 9 regulation road losses this year) but they’re a puzzling 17-19-3 at home. That’s the second worst home record in the Western Conference (only Vancouver is worse) and the the third worst in the entire NHL. If you have any idea of how a team can play like a Stanley Cup contender on the road and a lottery contender at home I’m all ears. The Sharks also have nothing to play for at this point. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll run down Anaheim for second place in the Pacific Division and with Arizona 17 points back in fourth they’re locked in to the #3 spot. And those of you quick thinking types out there realized something else–even if they *did* run down the Ducks it wouldn’t do anything to improve their situation. The #2 and #3 seeds in the Pacific will play in the first round meaning it’ll be Anaheim vs. San Jose. If the Ducks get past the Kings for the Pacific title it’ll be the Kings and Sharks in the first round. But why would San Jose want to fight for home ice advantage when they’ve played better on the road this year?

Anyway, don’t look for the Canucks to start a winning streak. Anaheim beat Calgary 8-3 in their last game and the Ducks have won 16 of their last 19 games against opponents with losing records. They’re also 19-8 against Pacific Division rivals. And, yes, this is the same team that started the year 1-9-1 and had head coach Bruce Boudreau all but fired just months after he took Anaheim to the Western Conference Finals. Ducks have won 10 of the last 14 head to head against Vancouver including 5 of 7 at the Honda Center.

BET ANAHEIM DUCKS -290 OVER VANCOUVER CANUCKS