The St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche have not met since the opening two games of the season back in January. This will be the first of six meetings between the clubs in April.
Let’s take a look at this contest, a matchup of two teams going in opposite directions, from a betting perspective in our Blues vs. Avalanche betting preview with odds, picks and predictions.
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The Blues are coming off a four-day break, a rarity in the NHL this season, but it was much needed for St. Louis as the Blues have lost four straight (0-3-1) and are clinging to the final playoff spot in the West Division.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche have been white-hot. They have earned at least one point in 12 straight games and in 14-of-15 contests (11-1-3).
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Blues vs. Avalanche Betting Pick
The Blues simply can’t find the net right now. It takes an entire team to lose games, but their struggles are predominantly on offense, as they only have four goals in their last four games and have been held to two or fewer goals in eight of the last 10.
That said, they’ve been eating too many goals all season too. They’re allowing 3.17 goals per game, which is eighth-worst in the NHL. J
ordan Binnington, who was an amazing story two seasons ago in leading the Blues to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, has been much more pedestrian in net this season (2.78 GAA, .903 SvPct). Top it off with their special teams being among the worst in the league (power play – 22nd; penalty kill – 26th) and it’s pretty amazing that the Blues are still in playoff position.
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The Avalanche will be playing their first game tonight in front of ticketed fans since the pandemic began 13 months ago. For a team already rolling, this could add an additional boost – hearing real crowd noise instead of the pumped in stuff. Not that Colorado has needed much in the way of inspiration lately.
The Avalanche have scored 53 goals in their last 10 games, scoring at least four in nine of those contests.
Joonas Donskoi scored the fastest hat trick in franchise history last game, netting all three goals in the first 7:31 of the game. In all, 14 different players got on the scoresheet.
Colorado is also pretty proficient on home ice this season, with a record of 15-4-2. And even though it’s been nearly three months since they last saw the Blues, the last contest between the teams ended with the Avalanche blowing out St. Louis by an 8-0 final.
Blues vs. Avalanche Odds
Here are the lines for Blues vs. Avalanche at DraftKings Sportsbook:
Spread: Blues (+1.5 -129); Avalanche (-1.5 +108)
Moneyline: Blues (+200); Avalanche (-240)
Over/Under: Over 5.5 (-124)/Under 5.5 (+102)
Bets We Like With a Blues Win
David Perron to score a goal (+270, DraftKings)
Perron leads the Blues in scoring this season with 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 35 games. More importantly, the Blues have registered at least one point in every game that Perron has scored (7-0-3). Perron has been in a little bit of a slump of late with just one goal in his last eight games, but leading scorers don’t stay down long. And with the much needed break in the schedule for the Blues as mentioned above, they should have fresh legs and come out to play in this contest.
With the value being so high on this bet, if you think the Blues can pull the upset, then ride Perron to score.
Bets We Like With an Avalanche Win
Gabriel Landeskog to score a goal (+195, DraftKings)
The Colorado captain has been feeling it on home ice lately, scoring a goal in five of the last six games at Ball Arena. He also has scored in six-of-eight overall and has posted five multi-point games in the last eight contests as well.
Add in a home crowd, and an offense that just terrorizes the opposition, and there is good value to almost double your money on Landeskog to score, especially if you figure the heavily-favored Avalanche will win.
Bets We Like Independent of Outcome
Avalanche to win and OVER 5.5 Goals (+143, DraftKings)
Eight of the last nine Avalanche games have gone over 5.5 goals. Colorado has done it all by themselves three times in that span. Meanwhile, considering this is the first of back-to-back games between these teams, the Avalanche are going to go with backup goalie Jonas Johaansson, making only his second start for the team, while giving star goalie Philipp Grubauer a rest after starting four times in eight days.
That should give the Blues a few opportunities to finally score some goals, but they can’t get into a track meet with the loaded Avalanche offense.
Blues vs. Avalanche Prediction
Colorado is on a mission this season. They felt they were the best team in the NHL last season before the pandemic hit and then after four months off, they didn’t find their game in the playoff bubble in time to make the run to the Stanley Cup.
They are poised and focused this year and they want to put that on display for the 4,600 fans that will be in attendance tonight.
Meanwhile, the Blues are reeling and looking for answers. This isn’t a good spot for them to be in and it could get out of hand if it becomes a special teams battle. The Blues will show a little life going against a backup goalie, but not enough. Call it Avalanche 5, Blues 3.
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