Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings Betting Prediction/Player Prop

We are headed into the final week of the 2021 NHL season, and there are few playoff spots still up for grabs. There is some playoff seeding that still needs to be figured out, and this game between the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings plays right into that.

Colorado comes into this game with 74 points on the year, which puts them just four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights. The Avalanche are going to be a tough team to beat in the playoffs no matter what seed they end up with.

The Kings have not had the season that they had hoped for, but this team is still giving some teams trouble down the stretch. Los Angeles comes into this game with 48 points on the year, but they have gone 4-4 in their last eight games. 

The Colorado Avalanche were 3-2 winners over the Kings in LA on Friday night. 

Colorado Killing Teams With Offense

Few teams in the NHL are able to keep up with the speed of the Colorado Avalanche, especially when they have the puck. Colorado is scoring nearly 3.5 goals per game this season, and they just continue to overwhelm opponents with talent. 

Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon do most of the damage for the Avalanche, but this team has talent on all four scoring lines. Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 30 goals on the year, while MacKinnon has a team-high 45 assists and 65 points.

Colorado has also been a solid defensive team, allowing less than 2.5 goals per game. The penalty kill has been sharp, and Philipp Grubauer has been solid in the blue paint all season long. 

Kings Killing the Pace

The Los Angeles Kings want to slow this game down, and they were able to do that in the loss on Friday night. The Kings are scoring just 2.65 goals per game while allowing just under three goals to their opponents. 

Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 37 assists and 50 total points, and he recently reached the 1,000 point mark for his career. This is a veteran team, and one of those veterans, Dustin Brown, has scored a team-high 17 goals.

Los Angeles has been great on the penalty kill this season, but stopping the Avalanche at even strength will be the biggest challenge on Saturday night. 

Avalanche Roll Over Division Rival

The Los Angeles Kings are not going to give up and just let the Avalanche win this game, but they are clearly overmatched. Even though the Avalanche are still missing some players due to injury, there are few teams as talented as this one.

Los Angeles will be able to keep this game close by slowing things down, but they just don’t have enough offense to win this game. The Avalanche can always find scoring when needed, and that allows them to beat the Kings for a second straight night. 

Bet the Colorado Avalanche -283 over the Los Angeles Kings in this West Division matchup. 

Player Prop

To Score: Mikko Rantanen (+114)

The Avalanche bounced back from a rare loss at San Jose on Wednesday with a 3-2 win against the Kings last night. It was no surprise that Rantanen was right there leading the way with another goal.

Even without his linemate Nathan MacKinnon (lower body) feathering passes to him, Rantanen found a way to get on the board with his goal at 5:49 in the first period.

It’s been part of a hot streak that has seen the Finnish winger score 9 goals in the last 10 games. Last night’s goal also marked the second time Rantanen has reached 30 goals in a season. Even a forced health and safety protocol break didn’t slow him down as he’s scored 4 goals in the 5 games since his return.

We’re going to continue to ride the hot hand in tonight’s rematch with the Kings and take Rantanen (+114) to light the lamp again.

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