Two former Central division powerhouses face off in the newly realigned West Division when the St. Louis Blues head to Denver for a matchup with the Colorado Avalanche.

These teams, both with Cup aspirations, should get to know each other fairly well, as they’ll face off eight times in the shortened 56-game season. The Avalanche are favoured slightly with a total of 5.5 goals.

Blues vs. Avalanche Betting Analysis

These teams are meeting for the first time since Colorado won a 2-1 round robin game in the NHL bubble. St. Louis only managed to pick up two wins in five meetings with the Avs, last season, with Colorado winning the last three games.

As the defending Stanley Cup champions at the time, the Blues had high expectations entering the NHL bubble, but it was a disappointing return to action. After dropping all three of their qualifying games, St. Louis was upset by the Vancouver Canucks, losing the first round series in six games. The Blues left the NHL bubble with just two wins in nine total games.

With higher expectations throughout the season, the Avalanche entered the NHL bubble as one of the top teams in the Western Conference and finished the round robin as the No. 2 seed. After easily bumping the Coyotes from the first round in five games, the Avs fell in the second round for the second straight year, this time reaching overtime in Game 7 against the Dallas Stars.

Colorado has won four of their past six home gams in this series and the over hit in three of the five games between these teams, last season.

St. Louis Blues

This is a very different St. Louis team from last year. Torey Krug was picked up to replace Alex Pietrangelo on the back end, Kyle Clifford was brought in as a veteran with experience and leadership potential and the Blues won the prize of free agency, Mike Hoffman. Krug won’t be able to completely replace Pietrangelo, but he’s as close as it comes. He’s been a consistent 50-point defenceman over the last several years in Boston and adds to an already dangerous St. Louis power play. Clifford is a dependable veteran presence who brings a Stanley Cup pedigree and can be a voice of calm in the locker room. With Vladimir Tarasenko still out with a serious shoulder injury, Hoffman fills the role of elite sniper and is a 30-goal scorer. When Tarasenko returns, the duo creates has the chance to create one of the best offensive one-two punches in the league.

Colorado Avalanche

Already with one of the best core groups in hockey, Colorado focused on filling out depth roles in the off-season. Defensively, Devon Toews is an upgrade from Nikita Zadorov and with 28 points last year, he has a bit of an offensive upside. Brandon Saad was Colorado’s steal of a deal in the off-season. Saad has hit the 20 goal mark in five of his last seven seasons and was a 30 goal scorer in Columbus, providing the Avs with some needed secondary scoring. After a great showing at the World Junior Championship, rookie defenceman Bowen Byram is going to get every chance to stick with this team. He scored 52 points in 50 WHL games, last year, and he looks ready to make the jump to the NHL.

Who Will Win Blues vs. Avalanche?