Ducks vs. Golden Knights NHL Odds, Preview and Prediction (Archive)
The Pacific Division rival Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights meet for the first time this season Friday from Sin City. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Anaheim Ducks vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Friday, October 29, 2021 – 08:00 PM EDT at T-Mobile Center
As noted above, this is the first meeting of the season between the Ducks and Golden Knights, both residents of the Pacific Division but definitely paying different rents – Vegas is a Stanley Cup contender and also could win the Pacific, while Anaheim simply isn’t very good. The teams will play three more times.
Last year with the unusual scheduling, Vegas won seven of the eight meetings by an average score of 3.6-1.6. The Knights were 3-1 at home, winning those by an average score of 3.0-2.0. Mark Stone led Vegas with nine points in the season series (2 goals, 7 assists) and Chandler Stephenson had eight points (4 goals and 4 assists). Stone won’t be playing here. More on that below. Robin Lehner was 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .951 save percentage.
Max Comtois led Anaheim with six points in the series (five goals, one assist) and Rickard Rakell had five (1 goal, 4 assists). John Gibson was 1-4-2 with a 3.15 GAA and .899 SV. The favorite is 14-2 in the past 16 meetings on the NHL odds.
Ducks Will Start Gibson in Net
It’s the second of a back-to-back for Anaheim after hosting Buffalo on Thursday – at least it was a quick flight from the LA area to Las Vegas. The Ducks are 0-1 in the second of a B2B this season. They played at Calgary on Oct. 18 and won but then lost 6-5 the next night at Edmonton.
Backup netminder Anthony Stolarz started Thursday so it surely will be No. 1, John Gibson, in this one. He started the season really well but has dropped his past three, allowing at least four goals in each. Overall, Gibson is 2-2-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .909 SV. In his career against Vegas, Gibson is an ugly 3-12-4 with a 3.31 GAA and .905 SV. He does have one shutout.
Anaheim remains without two promising young players in Max Jones and Mason McTavish, both on injured reserve. McTavish, just 18, hasn’t played since Oct. 18 while dealing with a lower-body injury but could be close. He has a goal and assists in two games. Jones, scoreless in two games, is out 4-5 months with a torn pectoral, which is a bit of an unusual hockey injury.
The Ducks are basically in a youth movement/rebuild. "It’s a tough blow for Max as he made strides last season and was heading in the right direction this year as well," said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray.
Entering Thursday’s matchup in Buffalo, veteran Ryan Getzlaf was two points shy of tying Teemu Selanne (988) for Anaheim’s all-time points record. Getzlaf is in his 17th NHL season and is the longest-serving captain in Anaheim history and the fourth-longest-serving captain in the NHL.
Anaheim is 1-6 on NHL picks in its past six as a road underdog.
Knights Have Huge Injury List
Vegas is one of the most beaten-up teams in the league with three of its best forwards, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, and Alex Tuch, all on the injured list. Three others, William Carrier, Mattias Janmark, and Nolan Patrick, are all day-to-day. That’s a lot of lost firepower.
Vegas comes off a 3-2 overtime victory in Dallas, stealing two points because it trailed twice by a goal. Jonathan Marchessault’s second goal of the season tied it 2-2 at 18:58 of the third and Evgenii Dadonov’s second of the year won it at 1:50 of OT. Vegas had a season-low 21 shots on goal and Dallas had a breakaway with 20 seconds left in regulation.
The Knights were 0-for-1 on the power play and are 0-for-15 this season – the only team without a PP goal. In fact, every other team has at least two. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud didn’t play due to an upper-body injury and probably won’t Friday. Fellow blueliner Alec Martinez returned after missing three games. It was backup Laurent Brossoit in the net and should be No. 1, Robin Lehner, here. He’s 2-4-0 with a 2.87 GAA and .913 SV.
Vegas has 75 comeback wins since entering the NHL in 2017-18, behind only Tampa Bay (85) and Pittsburgh (76) for the most among all teams over that span. The Knights are 40-18 at BMR’s top-rated books in their past 58 as home favorites.
There is no value on Vegas at -250 on the moneyline, so we’ll do the puckline.
NHL Pick: Knights at -1.5 (+105) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.