Blues vs Avalanche Odds & Picks: Colorado Looks To Eliminate St. Louis At Home

The St. Louis Blues (54-26-12) are on the brink of elimination as they prepare to take on the Colorado Avalanche (63-20-7) as large road underdogs for Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday. The Blues vs Avalanche prediction still surprisingly has the visitors as the higher-ranked team even though they’re down 3-1 in the series and without goaltender Jordan Binnington in the lineup.

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Blues vs Avalanche Odds & Analysis

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Colorado will be trying to join the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning as the second team to make the conference finals and the first from the West. St. Louis has tried to hang in there with a more heavily favored opponent throughout this series and scored the first goal in each of the first four games. Unfortunately for the Blues, Binnington’s replacement Ville Husso has failed to replicate his success from the regular season, and that is the main reason why bettors have put their money on the big home favorites in early wagering. Husso has lost four straight starts since blanking the Minnesota Wild in the team’s first game of the playoffs.

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Confidence Lacking For St. Louis Without Binnington Between The Pipes

The Blues have shown some heart in battling back from multiple-goal deficits the past two games, but they have not been able to get over the hump to tie either late. They have quite simply run out of gas in the third period, getting outscored 2-0 in the final 20 minutes both times after cutting their opponent’s lead to one in the last 60 seconds of the second.

Husso has just not been able to seal the deal when his team has needed him the most, even though the last goals in each of the last two games ended up being empty-netters without him on the ice. Meanwhile, his counterpart Darcy Kuemper has done exactly that. 

Kadri’s Game 4 Performance For Colorado Stands Out After Threats 

Center Nazem Kadri had to deal with several racial threats after taking out Binnington in Game 3, and he could have handled that one of two ways for the Avalanche in Game 4.

Fortunately for them, Kadri stepped up and played his best game of the postseason with his first career playoff hat trick rather than letting everything weigh too heavily on him. He was outstanding and deserves credit for how he handled the situation, as he and his team were rewarded with a 6-3 victory where those three goals he scored were the difference.

Now Colorado is back home for the potential clincher, and fellow center Nathan MacKinnon still has not scored a goal in this series. Those pondering the Blues vs Avalanche prediction have to believe MacKinnon is long overdue for a huge game.

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Blues: Keys To Victory

What more can you say about Binnington’s absence? Sure, if he did not hurt his knee and was able to play, this might be a totally different series. However, that is not the case, and head coach Craig Berube’s bunch has to forget about the injury and move on. Berube himself also needs to concentrate more on the X’s and O’s and remember that he helped lead this team to a Stanley Cup three years ago. He is the biggest key to victory.

Avalanche: Keys To Victory

Colorado has now beaten St. Louis in 10 of the past 11 postseason meetings, and that domination definitely gives this club a mental edge in this spot. Sure, the Blues pulled off the upset in Game 2 behind a brilliant performance from Binnington. But Binnington is not here, and the Avs players know it. They are extremely confident and playing like it. If you are laying the heavy juice and taking the home favorites with your Blues vs Avalanche pick, then you think the hosts will have no issues closing this one out in Game 5. 

NHL Computer Pick: Blues ML (+205)

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