New Jersey vs Anaheim: the Ducks will be closer to success in a fight between equals

Anaheim defeated New Jersey 4-0 in their first face-off of the season. Will Lindy Ruff's team be able to get revenge in the upcoming confrontation? Our prediction: the Ducks will once again be closer to success!

New Jersey is having another weak regular season. All of the club's shortcomings can be put down to personnel restructuring, but it took too long. The Devils looked good for the first half of the season, but then they slowed down dramatically. The key period for the Red and Blacks could be considered the turn of January and February when they suffered ten losses in 11 meetings, making their situation as tough as it comes. After that, victories started to slip up from time to time but they did not help their chances of making the playoffs. Right now New Jersey sits just 13th in the Eastern Conference standings with no realistic title prospects.

Anaheim is another team that is slowly dropping out of contention for a playoff spot. In recent years we got used to the fact that the Ducks are among the hopeless outsiders in the league, but in the current regular season, they got off to a very good start, sitting in the cup zone for a long time, and it wasn't until the very end of 2021 that they began to struggle. That time the Californians had a bad streak, losing 9 out of 11 games, and after that they have lost much more often than won. In the last 13 matches, Dallas Eakins's players could get only four wins against nine losses, that's why now Anaheim is only in 11th place in the Western Conference standings.

During the regular NHL championships, the teams have played 39 face-offs. The Devils have 20 wins, the Ducks have been stronger in 18 games, and another game ended in a draw. The goal difference is also on the side of the Red and Blacks, 105-101. The rivals have met once this season, Anaheim celebrating a 4-0 victory.

New Jersey and Anaheim spend a very mediocre regular championship, being now outside the playoff zone. However, the Ducks are not so far away from the cup eight in the West, while the Devils have already lost a tangible chance to fight for the Stanley Cup. Of course, in such a situation, the tournament motivation will be on the side of the Californian club. Moreover, Dallas Eakins's players won the first face-off of the season 4-0, so now we should bet on Anaheim not to lose in regular time with the odds about 1.80.

The confrontation between New Jersey and Anaheim is not marked by very high scoring activity. The last time they passed the Total Over was back in 2018, when the Ducks defeated the Devils 6-5. After that, they rivals managed only 16 pucks in four head-to-head encounters (4.00 on average per game). Now we shouldn't expect a productive game either, as both teams are not in great shape and it's more important for them to score a few points rather than play some outstanding offensive hockey. With that in mind, we would say that Total Under 5.5 pucks at odds close to 2.30 would be a good bet.

Troy Terry has finally risen to be a true leader for Anaheim. This forward was expected to develop much earlier, but he has blossomed only at the age of 24, while now he is playing great hockey. In 55 matches played, the American has already recorded 49 points (28 goals + 21 assists), which is his personal record in his career, and there are still more than two dozen games in the regular season to come. Obviously, the player is in great shape, so it is worth betting on his Total Over 0.5 at odds of about 2.30.