Avalanche Will Keep Up Offensive Barrage
Colorado Scoring at Prodigious Pace
There’s a great Monday slate of games in the NHL on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States and it doesn’t get much better than the Minnesota Wild taking on the Colorado Avalanche in a battle of Central Division contenders. Five points separate these teams in the standings so this is significant for positioning.
The Wild have had a bunch of games postponed recently but have won the last three contests, including a 7-3 beatdown of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Mats Zuccarello led the way with a pair of goals and an assist while backup goalie Kaapo Kahkonen saved 39 of the 42 shots he faced.
Colorado has played better of late, winning seven of their eight games since the end of the NHL’s holiday break. The Avalanche are coming off a home-and-home sweep of the Arizona Coyotes over the weekend, as Colorado won in a shootout at home on Friday and cruised to a 5-0 win in Glendale on Saturday. Mikko Rantanen was unstoppable in those two games, notching four points (three goals and one assist) and a +5 rating.
The Avalanche are sizable home favorites on the current NHL betting lines.
Game: Minnesota Wild (22-10-2; 46 points) at Colorado Avalanche (24-8-3; 51 points)
Location: Ball Arena
Day/Time: Monday, January 17, 3 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN+
Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche
Avalanche’s Offense Is Relentless
Even for a solid defensive team like the Wild, it’s going to be really hard to slow a Colorado offensive attack that is unquestionably the best in hockey. The Avalanche score 4.29 goals per game — easily the most in the league — and have the best shooting percentage (12.2%) thanks to having a host of playmakers, from Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog on the outside, Nathan MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri in the middle, and Cale Makar on defense.
Colorado has six players with 30+ points and routinely outshoots its opponent, which allows the Avalanche to constantly level pressure on the opposing goalie. The combination of Colorado’s shot barrages on the net with the Avalanche’s high skill level and shot accuracy makes for a ton of goals.
If you’re betting online, look for the Avalanche to score with ease. Minnesota has only been a middle-of-the-pack in terms of goal prevention and now has to rely heavily on Kahkonen with Cam Talbot out due to injury. Kahkonen has impressed but taking on the starter role for Talbot’s absence won’t be easy, even if he has won his last three games.
Wild Are Explosive Five-On-Five
It’s somewhat under the radar that the Wild are third in the NHL in goals per game, around half a goal below the Avalanche. Minnesota’s scoring is much more top-heavy with Kirill Kaprizov at 42 points and Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman at 30 points apiece with everyone else at 24 points or fewer.
So, it’s a little easier for opposing teams to lock in on the Wild’s top players. But, when you consider that Minnesota has just 19 power-play goals this season and a pretty weak 17.3% power-play success rate, it’s clear that the Wild are a good team at even strength. That’s something for Colorado to be concerned about since a lot of the Avalanche’s success this season has been with a man advantage.
At least from an offensive perspective, the Wild can hang with the Avalanche for sure. The issue — which the BetUS Sportsbook line for this game recognizes — is how Minnesota will do defensively and between the pipes.
Kuemper Has Been Great at Home
The Avalanche have been an elite team but seem to take things to a different level at home (at elevation, too boot). Colorado is 15-2-1 at Ball Arena with all three of those “losses” coming in the first month of the season. Since November 3, the Avalanche have won 13 straight home games and Darcy Kuemper has been the goalie for most of those wins.
Kuemper is 17-5-1 and while his peripheral numbers aren’t so impressive, they don’t really need to be with how many goals the Avalanche typically provide He has been much better at home than on the road, though, with a 2.51 goals allowed average and .916 save percentage at Ball Arena compared to a 2.99 GAA and .899 SV% away from home.
Look for him and the Avalanche to keep up those trends. If you want great value, take Colorado on the puck line. Also, the over (6½ goals) isn’t a bad option either.
