The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars renew their rivalry in a Wednesday Western Conference round-robin matchup in Edmonton. Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and Round 1 seeding in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is on the line. We analyze the Avalanche-Stars NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Avalanche vs. Stars: Projected starting goalies
Philipp Grubauer vs. Ben Bishop
There’s no reason to expect the Avalanche to pivot to Pavel Francouz after Grubauer stopped 31 of 32 shots in a 2-1 win over the defending champion St. Louis Blues in Colorado’s playoff opener. He improved his career postseason numbers to a .913 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average.
Bishop should also retain the starting job in net even after his team’s third-period collapse against the Vegas Golden Knights Monday. He stopped just 28 of 32 shots on goal but has a career .927 SV% and 2.16 GAA in the playoffs.
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Avalanche vs. Stars: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Wednesday at 1:50 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Stars 3, Avalanche 2
Moneyline (ML)
The STARS (+110) swept the regular-season series against the Avalanche (-129), winning twice in regulation – 2-1 and 4-1 – and twice in extra time – 3-2 in a shootout and 3-2 in overtime.
The Avs put forth an immaculate all-around effort in their postseason opener while the Stars blew a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes to lose 5-3. Look for Bishop to bounce back in a strong fashion and for the Avalanche to slip after a big win over the Western Conference’s top seed.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Stars to win in regulation or overtime would return a profit of $11.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
PASS on the puck line. There just isn’t enough value in the Stars’ line of +1.5 -250 in a game I think they can win outright. With the talent on offense for both teams this could very well be decided by multiple goals in either direction. It would only make sense to eat the chalk if it truly felt like a safer play.
Over/Under (O/U)
Lean to the UNDER 5.5 (-106). All four regular-season meetings played to a total of five or fewer goals and Colorado combined for just three total goals in their win over the Blues.
The Stars should look to play a tighter game after being on the wrong side of the high-scoring affair with the Golden Knights.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 8-8
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