Colorado Avalanche at St. Louis Blues Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Colorado Avalanche visit St. Louis for a matchup with the Blues on Friday night for Game 6 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series. Colorado comes into this game with a 3-2 series lead and can send the Blues into the offseason with a win. 

Colorado won the Central Division this season with 119 points and swept the Nashville Predators in the First Round. The Avalanche missed out on a chance to win the series at home, but they have the ability to win anywhere. 

St. Louis upset the Minnesota Wild in the First Round, and they entered this series as big underdogs. The Blues staved off elimination on Wednesday night, but things don’t get any easier on Friday night. 

The Colorado Avalanche are the moneyline betting favorites at -174 over the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night. 

Colorado Continues to Score

The Colorado Avalanche have scored at least four goals in each of the last three games in this series, and they nearly averaged that during the regular season. Even in the Game 5 loss, the Avalanche were able to put up plenty of offense. 

Nathan MacKinnon has been terrific in this series, and he leads the Avalanche with 13 points this postseason. Nazem Kadri had a hat trick in one of the wins, and he has chipped in on offense as well. 

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper hasn’t been as dominant in this series as the First Round, but he has the ability to take over games as well. The Avalanche want to increase the pace of this game in an effort to wear down St. Louis. 

Blues Have to Battle

The St. Louis Blues are simply not going to outscore the Avalanche, but they can be the more physical team. Goaltender Ville Husso has been solid since taking over for Jordan Binnington, and he will have to come up big in this game. 

David Perron has been the offensive leader for the Blues in the playoffs as he has scored nine goals. Ryan O’Reilly has chipped in with 12 postseason points, and that duo will have to play well in this game. 

The Blues don’t want this game to turn into a shootout, and they will have to battle all night long to keep their season alive. 

Avalanche Roll to Conference Finals

The Blues stormed back in Game 5 to send this game back to St. Louis, but look for the Avalanche to respond on Friday night. Colorado has been one of the best teams in hockey all season long, and they have been able to win games on the road.

The Blues have done a tremendous job of being physical with the Avalanche, and they have made this a much better series than expected. At some point, though, Colorado simply has too many offensive weapons, and they won’t be stopped. 

This has been a competitive series, but it’s not going to go to a Game 7. Bet the Colorado Avalanche -174 over the St. Louis Blues as the visitors punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

Prop Picks

Colorado (+190) OVER 4.5 Goals

Colorado is averaging 3.8 goals per game on offense, which ranks No. 4 in the league, while scoring on 24.0 percent of its power plays, which ranks No. 7. Scores have gone OVER in each of the Avalanche’s last five road games versus St. Louis.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado victory by the score of 5-4, take the Avalanche (+190) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 4.5 goals against the Blues.

Mikko Rantanen (-120) OVER 0.5 Assists

Rantanen had 56 assists in 79 games during the regular season, which tied for No. 3 on the Avalanche. The veteran right wing has added another 10 assists in 9 games during the postseason, which is tied for No. 1 on the Avalanche.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado win while going OVER its team point total, take Rantanen (-120) to finish OVER 0.5 assists versus St. Louis.

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