These two teams are heading in opposite directions heading into Friday’s game in Denver. The Colorado Avalanche have won 10 of their last 12 games, with both defeats coming in overtime, while the St. Louis Blues have lost nine of their last 11 contests. While Colorado has scored in bunches during this stretch, the goals have dried up for St. Louis, which has been held to one goal or fewer five times in the last eight games. The Blues are going to need to find some offense if they have any hope of taking down the Avalanche on the road.
Joonas Donskoi easily falls to the background when discussing the Avalanche’s talented forwards, but he’s been as hot offensively as anyone on the team lately. He has 15 points in his last 10 games, a stretch that includes nine goals, including goals in three of his last four games and four of his last six. When looking for a value pick on the NHL betting sites in New Jersey, it’s hard to overlook Donskoi at +260 odds given his recent track record. While there are players who garner more attention for obvious reasons, Donskoi is the pick for smart bettors on this game. JOONAS DONSKOI SCORES GOAL Colorado does not get enough credit for its defense, which has been extraordinary this season. Phillipp Grubauer has also been fantastic in backstopping the Avalanche with a league-leading 1.78 goals against average and a stellar .928 save percentage that ranks third in the league. St. Louis has struggled to score lately with one goal or fewer in five of its last eight games. It will be a challenge for the Blues to score as is, but then you add in the fact that Colorado is allowing the fewest shots per game in the league this season. The +195 odds from the hockey betting sites in New Jersey seems too long for St. Louis to score less than two goals. ST. LOUIS BLUES UNDER 1.5 GOALS This is a giant mismatch for the Avalanche on paper. Colorado is averaging slightly more than 40 shots per game during this recent 12-game stretch and it is facing a St. Louis team in the bottom five in team save percentage. The Avalanche are scoring 4.75 goals per game over the last three weeks and St. Louis has scored more than two goals just once in its last eight. It’s the perfect formula for yet another massive Avalanche win, so the +220 odds from the legal sports betting sites in New Jersey are just the icing on the cake. COLORADO AVALANCHE -2.5 GOALS
Head to Head This is the third of eight games this season between Colorado and St. Louis after the two teams split a pair of games a pair of games to start the season back in January. Stats Colorado is one of the most well-rounded teams in the league this season and now lead the NHL in both scoring offense (3.63 goals per game) and scoring defense (2.26 goals allowed per game). The Avalanche are also tied with the most shots on goal this year and in second place for fewest shots allowed in the league. Goaltending is an issue for the Blues, who have just a .891 save percentage this season, fifth worst in the NHL. St. Louis is also one of four teams to have not pitched a shutout yet this season. The Avalanche have been nearly unstoppable it seems during this 12-game point streak. Colorado is scoring nearly five goals per game, allowing just 1.8 goals per game while holding a 40-24 advantage in shots on average every game. Ryan O’Reilly continues to be a standout player for the Blues despite the rough season. His 12 goals are tied for the team lead and his 21 assists are one off the pace set by David Perron. But O’Reilly leads the team with a +13 plus-minus rating and a 59.3 percent success rate in the faceoff circle.
Colorado Avalanche to win These two teams have been on opposite trajectories over the past three weeks. While the Colorado Avalanche have won 10 of their last 12 games during that stretch, St. Louis has lost nine of its last 11 games. Even both of Colorado’s losses required overtime, so the Avalanche are riding a 12-game point streak into this home matchup with the Blues. The Avalanche have been humming on offense, too, during this stretch, which does not bode well for St. Louis, which has scored two goals or fewer in seven on its last eight games.
