The Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues relocate to Enterprise Center Friday for Game 3 of their West Division Semifinal series. Puck drop will be shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET with the Avs up 2-0 in the series. Below, we analyze the Avalanche-Blues Game 3 odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
Colorado won Games 1 and 2 on home ice by scores of 4-1 and 6-3, respectively. It outshot St. Louis 85-58 through two games and registered 58.5% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts.
The Avalanche won the head-to-head regular-season series 5-3 but they split the four games at Enterprise Center. The Blues won the last two of those 5-3 and 4-1 in late April.
Avalanche at Blues: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:52 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Avalanche -225 (bet $225 to win $100) | Blues +180 (bet $100 to win $180)
- Against the spread/ATS: Avalanche -1.5 (+120) | Blues +1.5 (-145)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: -120 | U: +100)
Avalanche at Blues: Projected starting goalies
Philipp Grubauer (30-9-1, .922 SV%, 1.95 GAA) at Jordan Binnington (18-14-8, .910 SV%, 2.65 GAA)
Grubauer has stopped 54 of 58 shots in this series for a .931 save percentage; however, his home/road splits from the regular season are cause for concern heading into Game 3. He posted a .905 SV% and 2.48 goals against average in 16 games as a visitor.
Binnington gave up a total of 7 goals in the first two games of the series in Colorado. He preferred home ice in the regular season with a .913 SV% and 2.53 GAA over 23 games.
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Avalanche at Blues: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Blues 4, Avalanche 3
Money line (ML)
This has been the most lopsided series of the postseason thus far and the Avalanche remain clear favorites by the odds to win the Stanley Cup at +300.
The BLUES (+180) will get to play in front of a limited home crowd Friday and are a good value at nearly 2-1.
Grubauer wasn’t the same goalie on the road in the regular season and Binnington was considerably better at Enterprise Center.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The BLUES +1.5 (-145) should be backed with the goal of insurance after being vastly outplayed in the first two games of the series. St. Louis registered just 41.5% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts.
Over/Under (O/U)
Back the OVER 5.5 (-120) with Binnington struggling in the series and Grubauer subpar as a visitor.
It’s more likely the Blues score their way to victory than shut down the Avs’ high-powered offense.
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