NHL Friday Night Betting Prediction Detroit vs Anaheim

As the lockout shortened 2012-13 NHL season heads into the final third of its schedule, the playoff races are shaping up to be fantastic! The Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings are both in the postseason hunt.

This Western Conference action intrigues us tonight and game time is slated for 10:00 PM ET, on March 22, 2013, from the Honda Center, in Anaheim, CA. We like the “Mighty Ones” to soar at the Duck Pond in SoCal.

Anaheim Ducks: Soaring hot on the wings of the Hawks

With so many stories unfolding in the “hotbeds” of hockey (Chicago, Montreal, Pittsburgh) the West coast Ducks have flown under the radar for most of the season. We’re fairly certain that changed after Anaheim knocked off Chicago by a 4-2 count on Wednesday. The Ducks play the game in hand they have on the Hawks tonight and a win moves them to within one point of first.

Anaheim welcomes back their second leading scorer as Corey Perry has now served his four game suspension for an illegal hit back on March 12, 2013. After the SoCal Crew earned seven of their possible eight points without Perry – everyone in the league is seeing Ducks on their radar.

Detroit Red Wings: Rocky team reload continues in Hockey Town

Detroit has made the NHL playoffs for 21 straight seasons – the 2004-05 lockout season excluded. Far from a lock to make the 2012-13 postseason party, the Red Wings reload has been a rocky one at best. Detroit is currently sitting seventh in the Western Conference playoff race but several teams are hot in their tail. Detroit is just three points ahead of Nashville who sit in twelfth overall.

The Wings made a three game run through western Canada that ended in Vancouver (5-2 win), then made the cross-country trip back to Detroit for a game against Minnesota (4-2 loss) and now they have to fly back across the USA to face the red hot Ducks. That’s tough travel for anyone.

Red Wings vs. Ducks Game Night Prediction and WagerWeb Online Betting Odds

This contest is the first of two straight between these clubs as the Wings will stay is SoCal for the re-match on Sunday. That will wrap up the season series that started with a 5-2 win by Anaheim at the Joe Louis back on February 8, 2013. We see a Ducks series sweep and we’ll back them in Game Two with the -172 money line posted at the wagerweb.com online sportbook.

WagerWeb Sportsbook Wagering Lines

Detroit: +1½ (-205) ATS +150 ML 5½ (+125) Over

Anaheim: -1½ (+172) ATS -170 ML 5½ (-145) Under