The Colorado Avalanche meet the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night in the first of four meetings over the next 10 days. The Avalanche have won three of four prior head-to-head matchups this season, outscoring the Blues 13-3 in their three victories.
- Date/Time: April 14, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Arena: Enterprise Center
- TV Coverage: NBCS
- Sportsbook Odds: Avalanche -172 | O/U 5.5 (Line History)
- Avalanche vs Blues Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The game opened with the Avalanche as favorites at -172 and the line has moved even further in their favor into the -176 to -190 range. The total opened at 5.5 and has stayed at that number with the OVER favored at -125 at most sportsbooks.
Colorado News & Notes
The Colorado Avalanche are on an incredible hot streak, winning 16 of their last 20 games, and lead the NHL in goals and points.
None of this should be overly surprising as they have been one of the top teams in terms of possession metrics all season and have a deep, star-studded roster. The Avs have scored the most total goals and second-most even-strength goals in the league, and also rank third in expected goals for and first in expected goals against. The team has generated the sixth-most high-danger chances while giving up the fewest.
As you can see, as good an offensive team as the Avs are, they might be even better on the defensive end. That is in part due to a defense corps that sports two players who should garner legitimate Norris Trophy consideration. Cale Makar has 30 points in 30 games this season while Samuel Girard has 31 points in 41 games. Both have been exceptional.
St. Louis News & Notes
The St. Louis Blues are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and are clinging to the final playoff spot in the West Division with Arizona one point behind and holding two games in hand.
They face a tough road to keep that playoff spot as four of their next five games are against the first-place Avalanche, followed by four in a row against the third-place Wild.
The offensive end is where the Blues have really struggled. They rank 29th in expected goals and 24th in even-strength goals. The team has also had a hard time creating chances as only Boston has fewer high-danger chances. David Perron leads the team with 40 points in 40 games. Only one other player has hit the 30-point plateau for St. Louis.
The goaltending has not been stellar either as Jordan Binnington is 12-11-3 with a .910 save percentage.
Betting Pick: UNDER 5.5
Betting the UNDER is not something we love to do generally. But there is really good value across the board if you do, and the combination of St. Louis’ poor offense and Colorado’s great defense makes this a potentially low-scoring game. Of course, the Avalanche could score six on their own, but we’re betting they don’t.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- Colorado is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games against St. Louis.
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of the Blues’ last 9 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 11 of Colorado’s last 16 games.
