The Colorado Avalanche face the Seattle Kraken on Monday for Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series. The Avalanche lead the series 2-1. Puck drop from Climate Pledge Arena is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET (TBS). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Avalanche vs. Kraken odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The defending champion Avalanche spoiled Seattle’s party in its first-ever home playoff game with a 6-4 victory Saturday. Superstar C Nathan MacKinnon scored a pair of goals in the victory.
Colorado picked up the win despite missing key-scoring RW Valeri Nichushkin, who was away from the team due to undisclosed personal reasons. Coach Jared Bednar offered no timetable for when the veteran might return.
The Kraken actually opened the scoring at 6:08 of the 1st period when C Jaden Schwartz scored his first of 2 goals on the night. Colorado scored the next 3 goals before D Jamie Oleksiak and C Matty Beniers scored within 19 seconds of each other in to knot the game up 2-2.
However, D Mikko Rantanen and MacKinnon took over in the final frame, scoring 3 goals. Schwartz put a bow on the scoring on the power play with 40 seconds remaining.
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Avalanche at Kraken odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:30 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Avalanche -150 (bet $150 to win $100) | Kraken +125 (bet $100 to win $125)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Avalanche -1.5 (+165) | Kraken +1.5 (-200)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Avalanche at Kraken projected goalies
Alexandar Georgiev (40-16-6, 2.53 GAA, .919 SV%, 5 SO – regular season) vs. Philipp Grubauer (17-14-4, 2.85 GAA, .895 SV% – regular season)
Georgiev blew an early lead, but he shut it down in the 3rd period in Game 3. He allowed 4 goals on 29 shots in the road win, and while he is 2-1-0 in this series, he has been giving with a 3.04 GAA and .898 SV%, both rather subpar numbers.
Grubauer was sharp in the series opener in Denver, stopping 34 of the 35 shots he faced. He made 38 saves in Game 2, but he coughed up 5 goals on 33 shots in the Game 3 home loss.
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Avalanche at Kraken picks and predictions
Prediction
Kraken 4, Avalanche 3
Moneyline
While it didn’t happen in Game 3, the KRAKEN (+125) will get the first playoff home win in franchise history on Monday.
The Avalanche have been missing LW Gabriel Landeskog (knee) in these playoffs and definitely didn’t need to lose Nichushkin. Depth veteran C Darren Helm has been in and out of the lineup in this series, making things a little more challenging for the champs.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Kraken +1.5 (-200) will cost you 2 times your potential return, and that’s just too much if you need some insurance and can’t pull the trigger on Seattle straight up.
PASS.
Over/Under
The OVER 6 (-105) is the lean, although don’t get too crazy.
The Over cashed in Game 3 with a total of 10 goals, but we had just 9 total goals in the first 2 meetings in the series, so be careful.
The Over is 6-0 in the past 6 road games for the Avalanche, while going 7-3 in the past 10 Conference Quarterfinals games.
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