Two of the best teams in the Western Conference will go toe to toe on Tuesday evening as the high-flying Vancouver Canucks head to the Mile High City to face the Colorado Avalanche in a must-watch affair. The puck is scheduled to drop at 9 PM ET at Ball Arena in Denver. Vancouver has actually lost two in a row and just fell 10-7 to the Minnesota Wild on Monday, a wild scoreline for a hockey game. As for Colorado, they last played on Sunday and won, beating the lowly Arizona Coyotes 4-3 at home. This should be a very entertaining contest between a pair of contenders. Keep reading for the Canucks vs Avalanche picks.
Before diving into the NHL picks, check out our top hockey betting sites and the Vegas odds for the NHL in the 2023-24 season.
The Avalanche are the home favorite here with -144 moneyline odds for an implied win probability of 59.02%. The Canucks return at +128 and have a 43.86% chance of leaving Denver with a much-needed victory. Colorado has won two in a row against Vancouver, but the Nucks were enjoying a three-game winning streak versus the Avs prior to that.
Coming into 2023-24, I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted that Vancouver would be one of the best teams in the league right now. But, they’ve exceeded expectations and appear to be a team who could be in the Stanley Cup conversation. The Canucks currently have the best record in the entire NHL, sitting at 37-14-6. Their 80 points are above the likes of the Bruins, Rangers, and Stars. A storybook campaign thus far.
In fact, Vancouver is 10 points clear at the top of the Pacific right now and barring a total collapse, should win the division. This is a very well-balanced group, ranking third in the NHL in both goals scored and goals allowed. It’s hard to find many teams around the league who rank top-five in those two categories. When you have two guys with 70+ points apiece, it definitely helps. Elias Pettersson is absolutely showing out, scoring 28 goals and assisting 44. JT Miller has also netted 24 and set up another 46. The likes of Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, Elias Lindholm, and Filip Hronek are all consistent contributors as well.
But, the Canucks did struggle to keep Minnesota at bay on Monday, allowing 10 goals. This was a wild contest that saw Vancouver take a 5-3 lead into the third period before the Wild erupted for seven goals. Definitely a bit of a collapse for the Nucks, but it’s nothing to worry about. Tuesday is an opportunity to bounce back and get into the win column again versus a tough opponent.
Just like Vancouver, Colorado is a team that cannot be taken lightly out of the West. The 2021-22 Stanley Cup champions are second in the Central Division behind only the Dallas Stars, compiling a 34-18-4 record for a total of 72 points. The Avalanche are 5-4-1 in their last 10 appearances and have won two of the last three, beating the Capitals and Coyotes while losing to the Lightning.
Although Colorado isn’t phenomenal defensively, they’re undoubtedly an offensive powerhouse. The Avs are scoring the second-most goals per game (3.7) and that’s much in part due to Nathan MacKinnon, who has himself in the Hart Trophy conversation. The superstar has scored 33 goals and tallied 58 assists in 56 contests, sitting second in the NHL in points behind only Nikita Kucherov. Mikko Rantanen meanwhile is sitting at 70 points and Cale Makar has 60. This big three are a huge reason the Avs are a scoring machine. Imagine if Gabriel Landeskog was healthy, too.
Devon Toews proved to be the difference-maker against Arizona, scoring the go-ahead goal with 6:35 remaining in the third on Sunday. MacKinnon also got in on the action, scoring once and assisting another. MacKinnon has now tallied at least one point in every single Colorado home game this season. We’ll see if he can extend that streak on Tuesday. The Avs are an impressive 21-5-0 at Ball Arena.
The total in goals is set at 6.5 here and the under has been hit in four of the last six meetings. With that in mind, I like that bet here. Two good teams who will keep each other at bay for a relatively low-scoring contest.
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