The Anaheim Ducks had better get ready for a physical war.
The Nashville Predators have promised to bring a lot of physicality and tough play into the postseason, and Game 1 is the perfect time to catch the Quack Attack napping just a bit.
Stanley Cup Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Nashville Predators +149
Anaheim Ducks -179
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Ducks won the Pacific Division in the final regular season game of the year. On the surface, their reward appears substantial, but we're not all that sure we agree with the oddsmakers. Nashville is rightfully a big underdog in Game 1 of this series at +149, but that's a hefty price for two teams which finished separated by just seven point in the regular season.
GOALIE REPORT
Pekka Rinne has always had the promise of an elite goalie, but he's 33 years old now, and he's yet to lead the Predators to even the Western Conference Finals. He hasn't gotten a lot of help from his team for the most part, but the Preds are going to need to step up now. Rinne only has a 2.48 GAA and .908 save percentage, but what's most alarming in his whopping 10 OT losses this season. If this game is close late on, don't think that won't creep into Rinne's mind.
Frederik Andersen figures to get the starting nod for Anaheim after he started all 16 games in the postseason last year for it. He was 11-5 in those games with a respectable 2.34 GAA, and he has comparable numbers this year with a 2.30 GAA and a 22-9-7 record.
LIVE BETTING
It's hard to believe these two teams were done playing each other in November. The Ducks didn’t beat Rinne in two games year, but they did snare a win against backup Carter Hutton.
Nashville has to take a lot of pride in those wins though, especially since it managed to really hold down the Anaheim offense, conceding a reasonable seven goals in the three games.
The best part about those three games for the Nashville defense? Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler combined for no goals and just three total assists.
QUICK PICK
We'll start by saying that we do think the Ducks are going to win this series, and we think they're going to do it without all that much of a fight. This first game though, is worrisome to us.
Nashville is going to really slow the tempo down by dumping a lot of pucks into the corner as it did in the regular season, and shot attempts are going to be few and far between. The Predators aren't going to be able to keep the Anaheim superstars down forever, but we do think they'll manage to do it in this game to start.
We expect Rinne to not have a ton of work on his plate, perhaps as few as 20 shots or so. If that turns out to be the case, the Preds will end up winning this first game in the ugly manner which it has become accustomed to and must win with. There will be better games in this series for Anaheim than this.
NHL Odds: Predators 2, Ducks 1
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