Ottawa Senators vs. Colorado Avalanche Prediction, NHL Odds
The defending Stanley Cup champions are coming off a 3-2 loss to the bottom-feeding Chicago Blackhawks, and return home for Saturday’s contest with just one win in eight outings. The Senators opened their current three-game road trip with Thursday’s 5-3 victory in Arizona to improve to 3-2-0 in five games so far in 2023.
The Senators have made big gains on the Saturday NHL odds since opening as +168 underdogs, vaulting to a +138 bet while the Avs faded to -166 favourites. The total is unchanged since opening at 6.0, but with the support of 90% of sports bettors, the OVER has shortened to a -119 wager.
Senators vs. Avalanche NHL Betting Odds
Saturday night’s matchup marks the first of two regular season meetings between these teams. These clubs split a pair of high scoring contests last season, with the Avalanche tallying a 7-5 victory when the Sens visited Colorado in November 2021. That marked their third straight home victory over Ottawa, and overall Colorado has now claimed the win in four of six overall clashes. These clubs scored an averaged of 11.5 goals per game in last season’s two dates, extending a steady historic trend that has seen the OVER pay out in 15 of 19 meetings between these clubs since 2009.
Ottawa Senators
After getting outscored by a wide 11-4 margin in consecutive losses to close out a four-game home stand, the Senators took out their frustrations with an impressive offensive performance in the desert on Thursday night. The Sens seized an early in their date with the Coyotes, and never looked back, racking up a season-high 47 shots on goal on their way to a decisive 5-3 win. Ottawa has now topped 40 shots in two of the team’s past four road contests. However, the Sens’ battle to produce consistent results on the road has continued. The club has tallied consecutive wins just once over their past eight away games, scoring two or fewer goals three times over that stretch. On a positive note, Alex DeBrincat has remained a steady performer on the road. DeBrincat contributed a goal and an assist in Thursday’s win, and has now tallied five goals and 10 assists over his past 12 road appearances. Conversely, Tim Stutzle has cooled off, going pointless over the past two games after piling up 12 points over his previous seven outings.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs are hoping they have finally hit rock bottom with Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the basement-dwelling Chicago Blackhawks. For the third time in as many outings, the Avs stumbled out of the gate, spotting Chicago an early lead, and were unable to solve Blackhawks netminder Petr Mrazek, who sealed the win with a sparkling 31-save performance while stopping each of the final 15 shots he faced. The usual suspects have continued to produce for the Avs. With two helpers on Thursday, Nathan MacKinnon has now recorded seven points in six games since returning from injury. Mikko Rantanen has also produced multi-point performances in five of his past 10 outings. However, the club has been hurt by a lack of contributions from players not named MacKinnon, Rantanen, or Makar, who have tallied just five of the team’s 13 total goals scored over their past five games. Not surprisingly, the Avalanche have also struggled on special teams, going 1-for-25 with the extra man over the past six games while surrendering six goals while shorthanded over that stretch.
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