Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues Game 3 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The West Division first-round playoff series between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 on Friday. The Avalanche are up 2-0 in the series and favoured on the NHL odds to make it 3-0. The total is 5.5 goals.
Avalanche vs. Blues Stanley Cup Odds
Colorado was 17-9-2 on the road during the regular season and St. Louis was 12-11-5 at home. Those are the fewest home wins of any playoff team. On the puckline for Game 3, Colorado is +122 at -1.5 and St. Louis is -147 at +1.5. The Over is a slight favourite on the total of 5.5 goals. The favoured winning margin is Avalanche by a goal at +285, while the Blues winning by a goal is +410.
With the Avalanche up 2-0, this series is all but over in this writer’s opinion, and oddsmakers seem to agree as they are listing the Avs at -5263 on the series line and the Blues +1100. Colorado is the +325 Cup favourite, while St. Louis is a +9100 long shot.
The Avs are 7-19 in their past 26 trips to St. Louis. The Over is 3-1-1 in the previous five there.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado’s 6-3 win in Game 2 was never much in doubt as Joonas Donskoi’s first goal of the playoffs came just 35 seconds into the game and the Avs never trailed. Donskoi would add a second goal on the power player, early in the second period, for a 3-0 lead. He also had an assist and was the No. 2 star. The No. 1 star, however, was Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon, who buried his first career playoff hat trick. It was the first post-season hat trick by an Avs player since 1997 (Valeri Kamensky). MacKinnon also became the second player in franchise history to score multiple goals in each of the Avalanche’s first two games in a post-season. The other player was Peter Forsberg in 1998. Oh, and MacKinnon had an assist, too.
Colorado might be without winger and former Maple Leaf Nazem Kadri for Game 3, at least. He was to have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday for an illegal check to the head on St. Louis’ Justin Faulk, which got Kadri ejected. It would be a shock if he’s not suspended. While with Toronto, Kadri was suspended three games for boarding Tommy Wingels in Game 1 against the Bruins in April 2018. The Avs are 4-1 in their past five as road favourites.
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis played quite well for two periods before fading in Game 1. To the Blues’ credit, they didn’t give up after falling behind 3-0 in Game 2, eventually getting to 4-3 with just under five minutes left in the game on a goal from Mike Hoffman. Sammy Blais and Brayden Schenn (power play) had the other goals. Defenceman Torey Krug posted two assists. Fellow blueliners Robert Bortuzzo and Justin Faulk (see above in Avalanche note) were each knocked out of the game due to upper-body injuries.
Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 33 shots and there’s no reason to think the Blues would not start him in Game 3. Regular season leading scorer David Perron sat out again in COVID protocols and his status remains day-to-day. The Blues are 5-1 in their past six at home.
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