The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche continue their Western Conference Round 2 series when they meet in Game 5 Monday night at 9:45 p.m. ET at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Dallas leads the series 3-1 and looks to advance to the Western Conference Final. We analyze the Stars-Avalanche NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
The Avs are the home team in Monday’s contest; it’s a neutral-site affair in the Western bubble, but Colorado will have the advantage of final line changes.
Stars vs. Avalanche: Projected starting goalies
Anton Khudobin vs. Pavel Francouz
In the regular season, Khudobin posted a 2.22 goals against average and .930 save percentage. He’s fronted by a solid Dallas defense that does credible work in slowing down foes in the neutral zone and mitigating the number of dangerous scoring chances in and around the slot. Khudobin hasn’t been stellar over these first four games against Colorado, but he has been the best netminder in the series.
Francouz is in for G Philipp Grubauer who is out for the rest of the playoffs due to a groin injury. Francouz has struggled, logging a .862 SV% for the series. He was pulled Sunday after allowing the Stars’ fifth goal. He still figures to be between the pipes when Game 5 gets underway, but he’s under fire and looking to prove he can handle the rigors of being a starter.
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Stars vs. Avalanche: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Dallas 4, Colorado 3
Moneyline (ML)
Colorado (-137) continues to tilt the ice in its favor in even-strength puck-possession and quality shot analytics, but goaltending is the great equalizer. On back ends of back-to-backs during the regular season, the Stars (7-3-2, goal differential of 0.67) were the better team. The price on the Stars for this one — DALLAS +120 — is workable.
New to sports betting? A winning $100 bet on the Stars would return a profit of $120.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The juice-filled puck line — DALLAS +1.5 (-228) — is not appealing. The lean is on the Stars, but figure on the Avs (-1.5, +190) having some wounded-animal tenacity in making this a near-even game.
Over/Under (O/U)
Colorado injuries and a tighter Game 3 than what the final score tells make for some regression the other way. Figure the odds of a 3-3 regulation score or an empty-netter tilting this one toward on Over lean. TAKE THE UPSIDE ON OVER 6 (-121).
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