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

Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs is set to begin on Tuesday night, including one series taking place in Colorado. The top-seeded Avalanche will host the St. Louis Blues in a highly-anticipated series. 

St. Louis pulled off a First Round upset against the Minnesota Wild, but it wasn’t that big of a surprise. The Blues are a recent NHL champion, and this team always seems to step up their game in the postseason. 

Colorado won the Central Division this season, and they had no trouble with the Nashville Predators in the First Round. The Avalanche ended that series in just four games, and will look to keep the momentum going. 

The Colorado Avalanche are the moneyline betting favorites at -214 over the St. Louis Blues in the series opener. 

Blues Finally Getting Goaltending

The St. Louis Blues allowed nearly three goals per game this season, but they finally started to get some goaltending in the playoffs. St. Louis allowed just five total goals in the last three wins, and that will be a major key in this series. 

Jordan Binnington is back in the blue paint for the Blues, and he allowed just 1.67 goals against in the First Round. St. Louis will do everything they can to slow down the tempo and control the puck. 

David Perron leads the team with nine points in the postseason, and Ryan O’Reilly has chipped in with eight. St. Louis isn’t as explosive as Colorado, but they have plenty of offensive weapons. 

Colorado Cruising on Offense

The Avalanche put up some monster offensive numbers in the First Round series as they scored 21 total goals in the four games. Colorado has been great at even strength, and they are nearly impossible to stop on the power play.

Defenseman Cale Makar has 10 postseason points to lead Colorado in the postseason, and he will be a big key for the Avalanche. Colorado will be looking to score fast, and they will take some unnecessary chances. 

Darcy Kuemper is now the man in net for the Avalanche, and he has been terrific so far in the postseason. Kuemper stopped over 93 percent of the shots he faced in Round 1, and he will have to come up big in this series as well. 

Avalanche Take Series Opener Against St. Louis

Colorado was not challenged by Nashville in the First Round, but that won’t be the case in this series. St. Louis will be extremely physical with the Avalanche, and they will also do all they can to slow down the pace.

The Avalanche could also show some signs of rust on Tuesday night as they have had a long layoff after sweeping the First Round. Don’t be surprised to see St. Louis get off to a fast start in this one, but Colorado will respond. 

The Avalanche simply have too many offensive weapons, and they will eventually break through to get past the Blues. Bet the Colorado Avalanche -214  as they win the series opener over the St. Louis Blues by one goal. 

Prop Picks

Colorado (+155) OVER 4.5 Goals

Colorado is averaging 3.8 goals per game on offense, which ranks No. 4 in the league, while generating 35.0 shots per game, which also ranks No. 4. Scores have gone OVER in each of the Avalanche’s last six games versus St. Louis.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado victory by the score of 5-4, take the Avalanche (+155) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 4.5 goals against the Blues.

Nathan MacKinnon (+115) Anytime Goalscorer

MacKinnon had 32 goals in 65 games during the regular season, which ranked No. 2 on the Avalanche and tied for No. 36 in the league. He’s added 5 goals in 4 games in the postseason, which ranks No. 1 for Colorado and tied for No. 6 in the league.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado win while going OVER the Vegas team total, take MacKinnon (+115) to find the back of the net against St. Louis.