Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks Tips - Ducks to sink struggling Sharks

The Anaheim Ducks travel to San Jose on Tuesday to tackle the Sharks. When these two teams last met earlier this month, Anaheim came away with an overtime 2-1 victory. I feel Tuesday will be the same score, but this time Anaheim will win 2-1 in open play and not rely on a shootout.  

San Jose are bottom of the West Division, and while the Ducks are only 4th, they have displayed the greater team spirit and defensive nous recently in two tight games against West Division leaders Vegas. Based off these facts, I’m backing the Ducks to sink the Sharks 2-1. 

The Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks have played each other 104 times, with the Sharks leading their head-to-head 53 wins to 51. In their matches since the start of 2018, the Sharks lead 7-4, although Anaheim won their most recent game in February. 

The Ducks are currently 4th in the NHL West Division. Anaheim have won six games and suffered six defeats plus 3 Overtime Losses (OTL) in which the losing team still earns a point. In the NHL League, the Ducks are down in 19th spot, so it’s safe to say there will be no post season for Anaheim this season. 

Despite their poor record, there are some recent positives to be had; Anaheim are fresh off two excellent performances against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing their first game 5-4, but winning the second 1-0. The Ducks showed great fighting spirit to come back from 4-1 down in the first match to draw 4-4 before conceding a late goal. 

I was so impressed with the Anaheim display I backed them to win the return, even though they were heavy underdogs. The Ducks fulfilled my belief by the narrowest of scorelines, 1-0, showing excellent goal tendering and defending. 

The Sharks sit rock-bottom of the NHL West Division, with a record of 5 wins and a total of eight defeats (1 OTL). They do have two games in hand over 4th placed Anaheim, so in theory if San Jose were to win both of those games, they would draw level on points with the Ducks on 15 pts. 

Recent form shows that is unlikely to happe; the Sharks have won one of their last four games, and that was an overtime shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings last week. The Kings got their revenge two days later with a 6-2 victory. Last time out, San Jose went down to table toppers the Vegas Knights 3-1 in a match played on Saturday.