Battle in Motown
After sweeping all three games in the New York area, the Anaheim Ducks continue their longest road trip in franchise history on Sunday when they face the NHL-leading Detroit Red Wings, whom they have not beaten at Joe Louis Arena in the regular season in almost six years.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Detroit -146 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 64% of bets for this game have been placed on Detroit -146 (View NHL Bet Percentages).
The Ducks (30-22-7), the reigning Stanley Cup champions, have lost their last nine regular-season games (0-7-2) at Detroit since posting a 2-1 win March 19, 2002. They have been outscored 26-11 during the losing streak, failing to score more than two goals in any of the contests.
Overall, Anaheim is 2-19-3 with three ties at Joe Luis Arena, but won two of three contests in the Western Conference finals en route to its first Cup title. That success, however, did not carry over into this season as the Ducks lost a 3-2 shootout on Oct. 3.
Anaheim will try to halt the slide after building some momentum during its lengthy road swing. The Ducks are riding a three-game winning streak after beating New Jersey 2-1 on Friday, capping a sweep of the New York metropolitan area teams which they outscored 9-2.
The Ducks had lost their first four games of the trip, which ends Tuesday at Colorado, as part of a season-high six-game skid.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere is expected to be back in net after rookie Jonas Hiller made 34 saves in beating the Devils.
Giguere has been outstanding in his last three starts, stopping 77 of 78 shots and going 2-0-1 after losing each of his previous four games with a 4.21 goals-against average. The goaltender hasn’t won in six career starts at Detroit, posting a 2.54 GAA.
The Ducks hope rookie center Ryan Carter can continue his strong play after twice in Friday’s win, his first two NHL goals after failing to score his first 27 games.
"When you get the first one the flood gates open and maybe that’s the case here," Carter said.
The Red Wings (41-11-5), who have the league’s best record and a 14-point lead atop the Western Conference, are looking to avoid a season high-tying three-game losing streak after a pair of disappointing losses. They were beaten on the first shot of overtime Saturday in a 3-2 defeat to Toronto after losing 5-3 at home to league-worst Los Angeles on Thursday.
"I hear this lots when we’re not perfect," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Because we’ve got so many points, we’re supposed to be unbelievable. (Toronto) has good players. They played hard. They got good, timely goaltending. I thought we controlled the game more and more as it went on, and in the end the last shot won."
Despite the consecutive losses, Henrik Zetterberg has been hot. The All-Star left wing got an assist Saturday to extend his current scoring streak to seven games. He has six goals and five assists during the spurt, and has three goals and two assists in his last four games against Anaheim.
Chris Chelios, the Wings’ 46-year-old defenseman, will become the eighth player in NHL history to play in 1,600 games. He’ll be 12 shy of Hall-of-Famer Ray Bourque for seventh.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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