The Nashville Predators (5-7-1) and Colorado Avalanche (6-4-1) meet Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Predators vs. Avalanche odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Predators suffered a 5-1 setback in Seattle Tuesday, their 3rd loss by 3 or more goals in the past 5 games. Nashville has won just 3 of its last 11 games, going 3-7-1 since opening with back-to-back wins against the San Jose Sharks in Prague to start the season.
The Avalanche swept the Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, outscoring Nashville 21-9.
Colorado has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season, especially offensively. However, the team has scored 4 or more goals in each of its last 3 outings, averaging 5.0 goals per game (GPG) along that span.
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Predators at Avalanche odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:21 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Predators +160 (bet $100 to win $160) | Avalanche -200 (bet $200 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Predators +1.5 (-150) | Avalanche -1.5 (+120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -125 | U: +102)
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Predators at Avalanche projected goalies
Juuse Saros (3-6-1, 3.46 GAA, .892 SV%) vs. Alexandar Georgiev (6-1-1, 2.61 GAA, .925 SV%)
Saros has not been himself this season, letting in 3 or more goals in each of his 3 November starts, and 7 of his past 9 outings overall. He has been especially giving in November, going 1-2-0 with a 5.56 GAA and dismal .851 SV% in 3 starts.
Georgiev allowed just 4 goals as the Avalanche swept the NHL Global Series games in 2 outings against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampere, Finland. He has won 4 of his last 5 starts and has yielded just 3 or fewer goals in 6 of his 8 starts overall.
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Predators at Avalanche picks and predictions
Prediction
Avalanche 5, Predators 2
Moneyline
The Avalanche (-200) will cost you 2 times your potential return, and as poorly as the Predators have played, that’s still a big risk for not much of a reward.
PASS, and look to the puck line instead.
Puck line/Against the spread
The AVALANCHE -1.5 (+120) is a better play.
The Predators have lost by 2 or more goals in each of their past 5 games, so if you like Nashville to lose, you should like to lose by 2 or more goals. In the 7 losses in regulation for the Preds this season, the average margin of defeat has been 3.0 GPG.
Over/Under
OVER 6.5 (-125) is the lean here, mostly due to the shaky play of Saros.
The Over is 21-5-1 in the past 27 games inside the Central Division for the Predators, while going 37-17-1 in their past 55 road outings.
The Over is 6-1 in Colorado’s past 7 inside the Central, while cashing at a 5-2 clip in the previous 7 at Ball Arena.
Toss in the fact the Over is 4-1 in the past 5 meetings between these teams in Denver, and 7-1 in the past 8 overall in this series, and the Over is where it’s at.
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