The Florida Panthers continue their four-game road trip, stopping in Anaheim to take on the Ducks. The Panthers couldn’t make it three games without the injury bug hitting. Captain Aleksander Barkov left the last game due to a knee injury and has already been placed on IR. We don’t know the severity of the injury just yet, but he’s going to miss at least the next ten games. That leaves the team extremely thin down the middle. Florida hasn’t lost a game in regulation, but through two games, they aren’t exactly a high-flying offense.
Many expect Anaheim to take a step back this season, but they opened with a 4-3 OT win over the Vegas Golden Knights on the road. It wasn’t all perfect, but it was a strong start to the season. The defense will be tested most nights, and this is one of them. Lukas Dostal is likely to get the call for the home opener, and he’ll need to come up big again. If Anaheim can stay out of the penalty box and capitalize on their chances, they have a very good chance of winning this game. We’ll back them at plus-money to cover the money line.
Panthers vs Ducks Prediction: Anaheim Ducks ML (+105) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number or better.
