Anaheim Ducks vs Vancouver Canucks Prediction: Best Bet for Tuesday

Vancouver allows 4.50 goals per game, the worst mark on the Tuesday slate by a full half goal, and plays this one without Thatcher Demko. Anaheim's power play converts 34.0 percent, and Leo Carlsson has 21 points driving a Ducks team that scores on almost everyone.

The Matchup

Anaheim is 6-7-1 at minus-0.29 per game, scoring 3.50 goals and allowing 3.79, and the Ducks play loose, entertaining games that come down to whether their young stars outscore their defensive mistakes. Leo Carlsson has been brilliant, with 17 assists and 21 points, and Beckett Sennecke has 8 goals, so Anaheim's future is arriving ahead of schedule. Lukas Dostal is at a 3.56 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage in net, which is the honest weakness in the Ducks' profile.

Vancouver is 3-12-1 at minus-1.56, scoring 2.94 per game and allowing 4.50, the worst defensive number on the Tuesday slate and the reason the Canucks have the worst record in this matchup. Elias Pettersson leads the team with 12 assists and 16 points and Jonathan Lekkerimaki has 6 goals, but the scoring cannot keep pace with what Vancouver gives back.

Thatcher Demko is on injured reserve after hip surgery, which leaves the crease to Kevin Lankinen, who sits at a 6.17 goals-against average and an .812 save percentage. Filip Chytil is also on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Anaheim's list is not empty. Troy Terry is on injured reserve after hip surgery and Ryan Poehling is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, which takes two useful forwards out of the Ducks' middle six.

Key Factors

Special teams are a mismatch that borders on unfair. Anaheim converts 34.0 percent on the power play, the best mark on this slate alongside Utah, and Vancouver kills just 66.7 percent of its penalties, so a Canucks penalty is close to a coin flip for a Ducks goal. Vancouver's power play converts 19.6 percent against an Anaheim kill of 76.4 percent, which gives the Canucks something, but not enough to trade power-play goals with this opponent and survive.

The counterpoint is Anaheim's own defense, which allows 3.79 per game behind a goaltender at .872, so Vancouver will score and the Rogers Arena crowd will have its moments. Pettersson is good enough to make the Ducks pay for sloppy changes. That is the case for a close game, and it may well be one for forty minutes.

It runs into the same wall every Vancouver game runs into. The Canucks need to score four to feel safe, against a team that scores freely and owns the power-play matchup, with a backup goaltender carrying a goals-against average above six. That is too much to ask for one night.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.