The Wild Card Seattle Kraken try to melt the 2-seed Colorado Avalanche Thursday in Game 2 of their 1st-round series at Ball Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Kraken vs. Avalanche odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Series: Seattle leads 1-0
Seattle shocked the defending champs with a 3-1 victory in Game 1. G Philipp Grubauer was amazing between the pipes, stopping 34 of 35 shots. RW Eeli Tolvanen jumped on an Avs turnover and took it the other way for the franchise’s 1st playoff goal. The Kraken defense was also able to keep the speedy Avs to the outside and protect the middle.
D Cale Makar returned with 3 shots on goal (SOG) and a +1, but it wasn’t enough as the Avs couldn’t match the fresher Kraken’s energy. Colorado had to play 6 games in 8 days to close out the regular season, and they’ll need to re-enter that zone to even the series.
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Kraken at Avalanche odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:02 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Kraken +180 (bet $100 to win $180) | Avalanche -225 (bet $225 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Kraken +1.5 (-145) | Avalanche -1.5 (+120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: +100 | U: -120)
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Kraken at Avalanche projected goalies
Philipp Grubauer (17-14-4, 2.85 GAA, .895 SV% – reg. season) vs. Alexandar Georgiev (40-16-6, 2.53 GAA, .919 SV%, 5 SO – reg. season)
Grubauer was nothing short of awesome in Game 1, stopping all but 1 of 35 shots. He was 9-3-1 with a 2.43 GAA and .898 SV% from March 1 to the end of the regular season. Grubauer was fantastic in 3 starts against Colorado in the regular season at 1-0-1 with a 1.70 GAA and .928 SV%. He’ll need to continue to stand on his head because the Avs are coming.
Georgiev stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Game 1 loss. He can be better, but it really wasn’t on him. He started 5 games in 7 days to close out the regular season. So he could be on a short leash in Game 1. Georgiev was 6-0-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .917 SV% in 7 April starts to close out the season. Seattle beat him 3-2 in OT in his only regular-season meeting, and he stopped 32 of 35 shots.
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Kraken at Avalanche picks and predictions
Prediction
Avalanche 4, Kraken 3
Moneyline
This is a bit of a trap game for bettors because the common thought is there’s no way Colorado goes down 2-0 at home, right? However, we touched on how gassed they could be after the grind of the final week of the season. One player that isn’t showing fatigue is C Nathan MacKinnon. He has had 6+ SOG in 4 of the last 5 games.
Take NATHAN MACKINNON OVER 4.5 SHOTS (-150).
Puck line/Against the spread
Five of the regular-season 6 games between these teams were decided by 1 goal. The Kraken are a great road team and have won 3 times in this building this season. They were 48-34 on the puck line this season and 27-14 on the road. It cashed in Game 1, and we’ll take KRAKEN +1.5 (-145) again.
Over/Under
Georgiev has allowed at least 2 goals in 10 straight games. So we’ll need to make up 4 goals between the teams for at least a push, and unless Colorado is just toast, that should happen. The last 5 games between the teams have gone Under this number, and the books know that. But they aren’t accounting for Colorado’s need to light the lamp early to take momentum back. Take advantage.
LEAN OVER 6 (+100).
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