3/18/2009
10:05:00 PM 0 GOALS(0) ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS
-vs- Nashville Predators
Scott Rickenbach’s
NHL 2* (Top Play) Anaheim Ducks

Money Line (-) vs Nashville @ 10:05 PM ET – The Predators had lost six straight trips to Anaheim before coming up with a win here on November 14th in overtime. The Preds than also got a 4 to 2 win on February 5th in Nashville when they faced the Ducks. That makes this a double revenge spot for Anaheim and we’re backing the Ducks as they battle for their playoff lives. Anaheim has now gone 1-3-1 in their last five games after a solid stretch where they had won three of their last four games. They actually played well against San Jose on Sunday but they couldn’t get anything past Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The Ducks can build off of that effort even though it was a loss and Anaheim is also well-rested here. Though they’ve struggled in March they’ve actually played better than their record shows. All their games this month have been decided by a single goal. On Wednesday, the Ducks will take advantage of a Predators team that had scored two goals or less in 16 of their last 17 road games before suddenly coming up with a 4-goal effort at Los Angeles on Monday night. The Preds won that game 4 to 3 but we’re still not sold on them as being a team worth backing on the road very often. They’re still struggling to get the job done offensively on the road and they’re facing a Ducks team that will be very fired up here! Anaheim knows they can ill-afford a loss to this playoff contender and they will be pressuring Nashville from the drop of the opening puck. Off of a shutout home loss we have no doubts about the effort that Anaheim will bring here. Note that Nashville had scored just 6 goals in their last four games before the “fluke” result at Los Angeles on Monday night. We lost with the Kings that night as the Predators scored the winning goal with about two minutes to go in the game. We get some redemption tonight and Nashville’s offensive woes on the road quickly resume. Anaheim has outshot their opponent in each of their last four games and yet they only have one victory to show for it. This is serving to give us line value here as the Ducks are a very small home favorite due to their recent losses. The recent defeats are masking how well this Ducks team has been playing and we’ll take advantage by grabbing the value. Yes, the Ducks power play has struggled recently but Anaheim’s power play at home is normally very strong while the Predators power play on the road ranks as the worst in the league. Grab the value with an under-priced home team that is going to play this game as if it’s their last game of the season! Look for a huge effort from the Ducks here. Play Anaheim on the money line as a

Top Play selection.