Vancouver Canucks Captain Quinn Hughes made a strong return to the lineup Wednesday evening, which helped propel his side to an upset victory over the Los Angeles Kings. They will look to earn two more critical points as they take on the Anaheim Ducks in the second leg of a back-to-back Thursday evening.

The Canucks enter this matchup in a strong stretch of play, as their recent 7-3-1 run has moved them back into a playoff spot. The Ducks have quietly been in good form as well, as they hold a record of 7-2-1 over the last 10 games entering this matchup.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

The Canucks management, fanbase and media alike seem to be fairly divided with regards to which direction the team should attempt to go moving forward. Wednesday’s win could be viewed as a good example as to why, as while there were some clear positives to point towards, it was once again another case towards the notion that the Canucks can not out play good teams right now.

The Kings held a 16-3 edge in high-danger scoring chances, and outshot the Canucks 26-17. Kevin Lankinen was excellent in stopping +1.8 Goals Above Expected, while the team’s play looked fairly unconvincing overall.

To take an optimistic viewpoint towards Wednesday’s game, it was the first game in which Hughes, Marcus Pettersson and Filip Hronek were all in the lineup at once, and they did find a way to earn two points versus a high-quality opponent.

Hughes looked relatively true to form in recording an assist and two shots on goal in 21:38 of time-on-ice, though for a change the Canucks were out-chanced with him on the ice.

Filip Chytil was once again one of the team’s best skaters, recording assists on both of Conor Garland’s goals. While head coach Rick Tocchet’s newly formed second trio of Chytil, Garland and Dakota Joshua was also outplayed by the Kings overall, they had some positive moments offensively, and it was a positive to see Joshua get back on the scoresheet with an assist.

It was another quiet night from the team’s highest-salaried forwards in Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, who were once again held pointless. Chytil, Drew O’Connor and Marcus Pettersson have all played well since being acquired, but the team certainly needs more from those stars in order to have a successful finish to the season.

The Canucks have not yet confirmed a starting goaltender for this matchup, but it will likely go to third-stringer Arturs Silovs after Lankinen took on a heavy workload last night. Given the Canucks dire need for points though, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if they did opt offer Lankinen a start in this back-to-back, something which has become almost unheard on in today’s NHL.

Silovs holds a -8.0 GSAx rating and .862 save percentage in eight appearances this season.

The Ducks’ recent 7-2-1 tear has certainly taken some heat off of much-maligned head coach Greg Cronin and perhaps heightened the chance he maintains his position next season. While winning matters most, the Ducks’ overall process in recent games has still looked pretty unconvincing, and it’s still hard to argue that Cronin is actually doing a good job.

Over the last 10 games, the Ducks hold a 45.93% expected goal share at even strength and have allowed 31.48 shots against per 60. Their goaltenders continue to be entirely dominant and have posted the league’s second highest save percentage in that span of .924.

Cronin has his team playing a dated style overall and does not seem willing to allow his talented young forwards space to grow offensively. The situation seems entirely similar to what we saw from the Columbus Blue Jackets last season under former head coach Pascal Vincent, before a number of players boomed offensively under the watch of head coach Dean Evason.

While it is entirely possible that some of the Ducks’ young forwards were overrated entering this season, it’s hard to imagine that was the case for every single one of them. There probably isn’t one skater on the roster who is particularly happy with their offensive production.

John Gibson and Lukas Dostal have combined to stop 35.2 Goals Above Expected this season, which is the best mark in the league. The Ducks have confirmed that it will be Dostal starting in this matchup, who holds a +20.2 GSAx rating and .910 save percentage in 35 appearances.

Prior to his recent three-game suspension, Trevor Zegras had started to find his game to some extent, posting six points over the last nine games. While Zegras has plenty to learn away from the puck, the Ducks’ current style seems to suit him horribly, and he could still be an interesting pickup for a more successful roster.

While Cronin has stressed the need to play the game the right way to his young core, his team has done a much worse job of driving possession than expected, which has, in turn, still led to a ton of chances against on a nightly basis.

The Ducks have been better of late, despite still allowing a ton of shots against and not carrying much of the overall run of play. They will have a huge goaltending edge with Dostal likely to faceoff versus Silovs in this matchup, and will also have a rest advantage with the Canucks having played last night.

At yesterday’s opening price of +130, the Ducks looked to be the side holding betting value, but the current prices look to be fair as they are now priced at +110.

This does appear to be another good spot to target Chytil in the prop market, as he continues to look quite notable early on in his tenure as a Canuck. He was able to come through for us by recording a point last night, but backing him to record over 2.5 shots on goal is my preferred option in this particular matchup, as the Ducks allow a ton of shots against but continue to get incredible goaltending.

Chytil has gone over 2.5 shots on goal in five of his first seven games with the Canucks, and the Ducks provide a good matchup to ride that trend, especially given the plus-money price tag.