St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche Series Prediction, NHL Odds
Ideally things would line up similarly for the Colorado Avalanche as the last time they faced the St. Louis Blues in the playoffs. The only other playoff series between these teams was the 2001 Western Conference Final, which ended with a Colorado win in five games. The Avalanche had won the President’s Trophy that season as well and eventually went on to win the Stanley Cup. Are the Avs destined for another championship run, or will a veteran Blues team crush their hopes early?
This is the biggest discrepancy on the NHL Futures Board, as the Avalanche are -506 favourites to win the series.
Blues vs. Avalanche Betting Analysis
Colorado took a 5-3 edge in wins during the regular season against St. Louis this year. The biggest margin of victory was an 8-0 Avalanche win on Jan. 15. The Blues took the last two meetings between these teams, while the Over/Under was split in all eight games of the season series.
It’s a little bit surprising, but St. Louis was actually a better road team than home team this year, so starting in Denver might be a blessing in disguise. The Blues were 15-9-4 outside of St. Louis, although they did only manage to win one of four games in Colorado. They weren’t a great cover option in the regular season, going 23-33 against the spread and only covering in 12 of 28 road games. The total went Under in five of the Blues’ last seven regular season games.
Colorado seemed to win everywhere this season, but they were at their best on home ice. The Avs were 22-4-2 at Ball Arena and have won nine straight games there. They’ve also won six of their last seven home games against St. Louis, dating back to last year. The Avalanche were 24-32 ATS this year and they covered in 15 of 28 home games. The total went Under in four of Colorado’s last six games.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues are one of only three teams (Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are the others) to make at least nine postseason appearances over the last 10 years. This is a veteran team with 17 Stanley Cup winners on the roster, 16 from St. Louis’ 2019 championship team, as well as Kyle Clifford, who won it twice with the L.A. Kings. Their captain, Ryan O’Reilly, was also their best offensive player this season. He led the team in goals (24), even-strength goals (18) and game-winning goals (4). He’s a proven playoff performer who was the Conn Smythe winner in 2019.
Jordan Binnington will get the start in Game 1. Binnington lost all five of his starts in last year’s playoffs, but he was a key member of the Cup-winning team two years ago. In 42 games this season, he was 18-14-8 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He bumped up his save percentage in the final stretch of the season, recording a .921 SV over his last 15 games. Binnington will be backed up by Ville Husso, who went 9-6-1 this season with a 3.21 GAA and .893 SV.
Watch the injury report for this series. Vladimir Tarasenko, Vince Dunn, David Perron and Torey Krug have all dealt with injury or COVID issues near the end of the season. Tarasenko (lower-body) and Dunn (upper-body) likely won’t be ready for Game 1. Perron will also miss Game 1 due to COVID protocols, but Krug (upper-body) is expected to play.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado will make their fourth straight playoff appearance and they’ll be looking to improve upon a Game 7 loss to the Dallas Stars in the second round last year. The Avs are a balanced roster and had nine different players record at least 30 points this season. Mikko Rantanen led the team with 66 points (30G, 36A) in 52 games, while Nathan MacKinnon was second with 65 (20G, 45A) in 48 games. It was the fourth straight year MacKinnon hit the 20-goal mark. He’s also proven to be a high-performing playoff player. MacKinnon is averaging 1.35 points per game over 40 career playoff games and had a 14-game point streak in last year’s playoffs. He missed some time late in the regular season with an undisclosed injury, but he’ll be in the lineup for Game 1. Head coach Jared Bednar said the injury was not serious and he would not have missed the time if they were playoff games.
The Avalanche will be backstopped by Philipp Grubauer, who should at least get a Vezina nomination this year. Grubauer was 30-9-1 with a 1.95 GAA, .922 SV and seven shutouts. He’ll be backed up by rookie Jonas Johansson, who went 5-1-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .913 SV in seven games with the Avalanche after being traded from Buffalo. Third-string goalie Devan Dubnyk (3-2-0, 3.26 GAA, .886 SV) has been in NHL COVID protocols since May 3.
Keep an eye on sleeper-pick Nazem Kadri for any player prop bets. Kadri had 32 points (11G, 21A) this season and managed to play every game. He also led the NHL with five game-winning goals during last year’s playoffs.
NHL Series Prediction: Who Will Win Blues vs. Avalanche?
Colorado is ready to take the next step and go on a long playoff run this year. The Blues are capable of giving them more trouble than people realize, but the Avalanche will win this series in six games.