{"id":460880,"date":"2025-01-16T11:32:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T16:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=460880"},"modified":"2025-01-16T11:32:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T16:32:46","slug":"nhl-predictions-january-16-anaheim-ducks-vs-tampa-bay-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/16\/nhl-predictions-january-16-anaheim-ducks-vs-tampa-bay-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: January 16 Anaheim Ducks vs Tampa Bay Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0<em>Last Word on Hockey<\/em> takes a look at the games that are scheduled and then offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups. Today we are looking at the game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Be sure to check out more NHL Predictions as the 2024-25 season continues.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Anaheim Ducks vs Tampa Bay Lightning\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4>Head-to-Head: Ducks 1-0 Lightning<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Time:<\/strong>\u00a07:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV:<\/strong> FDSNSUN; Victory+; KCOP-13; ESPN+<\/p>\n<p>The Tampa Bay Lightning (23-16-3) will host the Anaheim Ducks (18-21-5) at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on January 16, 2025. This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. Anaheim won the first meeting 4-1 just 11 days ago. Anaheim continues their six-game road trip and enters tonight\u2019s game looking to bounce back from being thoroughly outplayed by <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/capitals\/\" target=\"_self\">Washington<\/a> on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay will also be looking to get back to winning ways after their recent loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/bruins\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston Bruins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words text-start [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"f76c6e9e-012d-4d48-a28a-9272a7dbbdfe\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert dark\">\n<h4><strong>Lightning Seek Consistency Amid Playoff Race and Kucherov&#8217;s Dominance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Lightning have been inconsistent lately and not living up to their usual high standards. They are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and are currently 3rd in the Atlantic Division. However, Boston, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/senators\/\" target=\"_self\">Ottawa<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/canadiens\/\" target=\"_self\">Montreal<\/a> are breathing down their neck, only separated by three standings points. The Lightning will be looking to capitalize on a weaker opponent and grab two critical standing points to stay ahead of the pack. The Lightning could also be referred to as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kucheni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikita Kucherov<\/a> show. In his last five games and in his typical over-point-per-game fashion, Kucherov has three goals and five assists. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=johanjo03,johanjo02&amp;search=Jonas+Johansson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonas Johansson<\/a> is the likely starter for Tampa Bay as teams tend to play their backups against weaker opponents like the Ducks. He has a 3.18 GAA and .903 save percentage this season but did not fair so well against the Ducks on January 5th. He gave up three goals on 28 shots in that contest.<\/p>\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words text-start [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"c23b9793-8a88-4486-973c-d9896615cd93\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert dark\">\n<h4><strong>Ducks Struggle with Consistency Despite Dostal&#8217;s Strong Performances<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After an emotional win against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/11\/carolina-hurricanes-young-forward-showing-more-than-just-making-the-team\/\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> on Sunday, the Ducks came crashing back down to earth on Tuesday night. They lost 3-0 to one of the President&#8217;s Trophy favourites in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/14\/nhl-predictions-january-14-anaheim-ducks-vs-washington-capitals\/\" target=\"_self\">Washington Capitals<\/a>, and the mismatch was apparent from puck drop. Washington moved the puck with ease and worked as a cohesive unit, while the other was resigned to just funnelling pucks toward the net whenever they could. Still, the Ducks yo-yo season continues as they are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. It&#8217;s not a good sign when you&#8217;re leading scorer over the past five games has only four points. That is the case for the Ducks and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lacomja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson LaCombe<\/a> who has four assists in that span. Expect Greg Cronin to continue the pattern of alternating goalies each night, so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dostalu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lukas Dostal<\/a> should get the start. Dostal has a 2.89 GAA and .910 save percentage on the season, as one of the few redeeming performances of this season for Anaheim.<\/p>\n<h3>Prediction<\/h3>\n<p>The Lightnings superior offensive depth, driven by Nikita Kucherov&#8217;s hot streak, is likely to overwhelm Anaheim&#8217;s defense. Tampa Bay will capitalize on Anaheim&#8217;s inconsistent play, especially if Jonas Johansson provides a solid revenge effort in net. Anaheim might put up a fight early, but their struggles to generate consistent offence will likely hinder them, despite Lukas Dostal&#8217;s promising form. The Lightning are playing for critical standings points, and their urgency will likely tilt the game in their favour.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Lightning win 5-2<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n<p>We close out our NHL Predictions for the Anaheim Ducks vs Tampa Bay Lightning with some of our preferred prop bets of the night.\u00a0 Keep an eye on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/guentja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Guentzel<\/a> over 1.5 points (+200). The Ducks have one of the worst penalty kills in the league, and with Guentzel on Tampa&#8217;s power play unit, he could easily have a multi-point night. Odds courtesy of Bet365.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: Always consider checking the latest team news and player statuses before placing any bets, as injuries and other factors can influence game outcomes.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are scheduled and then offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups. Today we are looking at the game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Be sure to check [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5399,"featured_media":460917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,20,4547,4548,9],"tags":[6013,4125,906,1708,3430,583,6391],"class_list":["post-460880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-ducks","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-lightning","tag-anaheim-ducks-predictions","tag-jackson-lacombe","tag-jake-guentzel","tag-jonas-johansson","tag-lukas-dostal","tag-nikita-kucherov","tag-tampa-bay-lightning-predictions"],"modified_by":"Alec Roberson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460918,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460880\/revisions\/460918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}