Ducks Welcome Wild To The Pond

Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have propelled the Ducks towards the top of the standings.

The Anaheim Ducks host the Minnesota Wild Wednesday in a battle between teams making a splash in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Puck drop at the Honda Center in southeast Anaheim is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.

Anaheim (21-7-5, 47pts) appears to have traversed a rough patch in the schedule that saw the team go 3-5-4 after beginning the campaign 15-3-1. The Ducks defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 at the Pond on Monday to notch a third straight win.

That win puts the Ducks two points behind the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks, with a game in hand.

Much of Anaheim’s success this season has resulted from the excellent play of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.

Perry ranks third in the league with 20 goals, behind only Alex Ovechkin (26) and Alexander Steen (21). He has also tallied 15 assists, enough to rank him sixth in the league in points.

Getzlaf is ranked in the top 10 in assists with 21, and fourth in the league with 35 points. He’s tallied at least one point in each of his past 14 games, a trend he and his teammates would like to see continue on Wednesday night.

But head coach Bruce Boudreau is far from happy. This week, Boudreau has called for more production from his second and third lines to help out the high-power first line.

Minnesota (18-9-5, 41pts) meanwhile has bounced back from closing out November with a four-game losing streak by winning three of its four games this December.

The Wild defeated the San Jose Sharks in St. Paul on Sunday, thanks in part to a pair of goals from Zach Parise, his 13th and 14th scores of the season. But it was goaltender Josh Harding that truly made the difference.

Harding made 37 saves in the 3-1 victory, making up for the Wild’s anemic offense which registered just 13 shots. It was just another big performance from one of the NHL’s best netminders. Harding (16-4-3) is tied for third in the league for wins, is ranked second in save percentage (.938), tied for first place with three shutouts, and leads the NHL in goals against average (1.50).

Minnesota as a team ranks fourth in the league, allowing just 2.2 goals per game.

It’s uncertain at this time whether the Wild will start Harding or go with Niklas Backstrom (2-4-2, 2.91 GAA, .897 SV) on Wednesday night. There’s a definite drop off when the latter takes the goal but with seven of the next eight on the road, coach Mike Yeo would be advised to find rest days for his star goalie where possible.

Anaheim is likely to counter with Jonas Hiller (11-4-4). In his seventh season with the Ducks, Hiller has a save percentage of .913 and is allowing 2.57 goals per game. However, Anaheim’s high-scoring offense – which ranks fourth in the NHL with 3.2 goals per game – has helped him to 11 wins.

Minnesota Wild vs. Anaheim Ducks odds for 12/11/2013

Anaheim (-152) opened as the favorite over Minnesota (+138) on the moneyline.

The Ducks edged a 4-3 overtime win when the two sides met on October 5, making it four wins in a row having swept the Wild 3-0 a year ago.

Anaheim has a convincing record against Minnesota, having gone 23-16-2-7 in regular season head-to-head competition since the Wild joined the NHL in 2000. The Ducks are also 8-1 against the Wild in the postseason, including a 5-0 record at home.

The Ducks are 11-0-2 at home this season and are the only team not to have lost in regulation at home, a record that has helped them to the top of the Pacific Division.

Minnesota is 5-6-3 on the road and has gone 0-2-1 in its last three games away from Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild (-245) is favored to cover the spread ahead of Anaheim (+200).

The over/under is set at 5 and favored to go under.

Anaheim (17-14-2) has seen the total go over in six of its last eight games. Minnesota (9-17-6), which rarely sees the over, has seen the total go under in six of the last eight games. Something has to give in this one.

The total went over in the October 5 meeting between the sides.

Anaheim will again host Minnesota on January 28 to close out the three-game series between the two sides this campaign.

For a full list of today’s NHL odds, click here.

For updated NHL futures odds, click here.

For a selection of NHL team prop bets, click here.

For a selection of NHL player prop bets, click here.