{"id":460973,"date":"2025-01-18T12:54:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T17:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=460973"},"modified":"2025-01-18T12:54:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T17:54:40","slug":"nhl-predictions-january-18-anaheim-ducks-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/18\/nhl-predictions-january-18-anaheim-ducks-florida-panthers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: January 18 Anaheim Ducks vs Florida Panthers"},"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 Florida Panthers. 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 Florida Panthers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Time:<\/strong> 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV:<\/strong> Victory+; SCRIPPS; ESPN+<\/p>\n<p>The Florida Panthers (26-17-3) will host their expansion sibling Anaheim Ducks (18-21-6) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida on January 18, 2025. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. Anaheim concludes their six-game road trip, looking to end it on a high note. They are currently 1-3-1 on this East Coast trip. Florida will be looking to make this a road trip for the Ducks to forget. and bounce back from a loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/09\/nhl-rumours-detroit-red-wings-eyeing-young-forward\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Red Wings<\/a> in their last game.<\/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>Panthers Aim to Regain Consistency Amid Mixed Results<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Panthers have been surprisingly inconsistent lately with a 4-5-1 record over their last ten games. Some of those losses were against top teams like Carolina and Colorado, but some of them were against struggling teams like Philadelphia and Boston. As the defending champs, the Panthers believe they can and should win any game they&#8217;re in. They are currently 3rd in the Atlantic Division and only 1.5 games back of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/18\/nhl-predictions-jan-18-toronto-maple-leafs-vs-montreal-canadiens\/\" target=\"_self\">Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/reinhsa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Reinhart<\/a> continues to be the hot hand for Florida, with five goals in their last five games. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/knighsp01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Knight<\/a> is the likely starter for Florida after coming in relief for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bobrose01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> last game, and the Ducks usually get the backup treatment. He has a 2.60 GAA and an .897 SV% this season.<\/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\u2019s Strong Performances<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Ducks hung in with the offensive powerhouse <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/16\/nhl-predictions-january-16-anaheim-ducks-vs-tampa-bay-lightning\/\" target=\"_self\">Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> the other night, but ultimately fell in a shootout. While that may seem like a decent result, the Ducks can ill afford to drop any more points in the standings if they are to keep their Wild Card hopes and dreams alive.\u00a0 The Ducks are 4-4-2 in their last ten games, which has been the theme of the season, they are a .500 team most of the time and then lose a bunch of games in a row. That formula usually equals a draft lottery pick. It may sound obvious, but the Ducks can&#8217;t win because they can&#8217;t score. Their top scorer in the last five games is a young defenceman who has three points over that span, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lacomja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson LaCombe<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=gibsojo02,gibsojo01&amp;search=John+Gibson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Gibson<\/a> probably still has nightmares from playing Florida. Over the past three seasons, he has twice been asked to make <a  href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/hockey\/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;match=versus_playervteam&amp;player_id1=gibsojo02&amp;team_id1=FLA&amp;utm_source=hr&amp;utm_medium=sr_xsite&amp;utm_campaign=2023_05_lnk_player_lastxgames_stathead\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than 50 saves.<\/a> If Greg Cronin is merciful, he will give <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>the start. Dostal has a 2.88 GAA and a .910 SV% on the season.<\/p>\n<h3>Prediction<\/h3>\n<p>Sam Reinhart, who\u2019s been on fire with five goals in the last five games, could be the difference-maker for Florida. Meanwhile, Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal will need to bring his A-game to keep Anaheim in it, especially with the team struggling to find the back of the net. This has all the makings of a hard-fought battle, but Florida\u2019s firepower and special teams should give them the edge<\/p>\n<p><em>Prediction: Panthers win 3 &#8211; 2<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n<p>We close out our NHL Predictions for the Anaheim Ducks vs Florida Panthers with some of our preferred prop bets of the night.\u00a0 Keep an eye on Sam Reinhart anytime goal (+110). Reinhart has been on a scoring streak, tallying five goals in his last five games and the Ducks aren&#8217;t known for shutting down the other team&#8217;s top players. Reinhart puts one in from in close on the power play. Also, take a look at under 5.5 (+110).<\/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-USA TODAY Sports<\/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 Florida Panthers. Be sure to check out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5399,"featured_media":460462,"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":[20,6,4547,4548,4524],"tags":[6013,6255,4125,123,3430,217,352,3915],"class_list":["post-460973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ducks","category-panthers","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-anaheim-ducks-predictions","tag-florida-panthers-predictions","tag-jackson-lacombe","tag-john-gibson","tag-lukas-dostal","tag-sam-reinhart","tag-sergei-bobrovsky","tag-spencer-knight"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460973","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=460973"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461038,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460973\/revisions\/461038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}