Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche Game 2 Betting Preview
19 May 2021
St. Louis had a strong finish to the regular season to finish in fourth place in the West Division. The Blues are a recent Stanley Cup champion, but they are big underdogs in this matchup with Colorado.
The Avalanche were a Stanley Cup betting favorite to begin the season, and they have not disappointed as the year has gone one. Colorado won the President’s Trophy with 82 points on the year, and they will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche are big betting favorites at -335 in this Game 2 of the series.
Blues Must Slow it Down
If the St. Louis Blues are going to find a way to even up this series, then they must slow the pace down on Wednesday night. The Blues proved that they could compete with the Avalanche for two periods, but St. Louis eventually ran out of gas.
David Perron was out of the lineup for Game 1, and that was a big blow for St. Louis. Perron leads the team with 39 assists and 58 total points, and he is a huge key for this offense.
St. Louis did score nearly three goals per game this season, but this series will be won by getting some stops from goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Colorado Cruising on Offense
The Avalanche want to play extremely fast, and they also want to take chances on the offensive end of the ice. Colorado scored 3.52 goals per game during the regular season and are always capable of going way over that total.
Nathan MacKinnon had a pair of goals in the series opener, and he led Colorado with 45 assists and 66 total points during the season. Mikko Rantanen is another terrific offensive weapon, scoring a team-high 30 goals.
Philipp Grubauer gave up a bad goal in the opener, but that was the only mistake he made. The strong play of Grubauer has allowed Colorado to focus even more on pushing the puck and attempting to score.
Avalanche Roll Over Blues Again
St. Louis is not just going to roll over and allow Colorado to dominate this series, but the Avalanche are capable of doing that on their own. The Blues have been a solid offensive team in 2021, but they aren’t on the same level as the Avalanche.
Look for the Blues to attempt to slow down the pace on Wednesday night, but that strategy won’t work for an entire 60 minutes. Colorado is simply too talented, and that team will take control of this game again.
St. Louis might be a team with plenty of toughness, but they just don’t have the talent to keep up in this series. Bet the Colorado Avalanche -1.5 over the St. Louis Blues as this game will be decided by at least two goals.
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