The St. Louis Blues (30-10-8) visit the Colorado Avalanche (26-15-6) Saturday for a 3 p.m. ET matinee tilt at the Pepsi Center. We analyze the Blues-Avalanche sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Blues at Avalanche: Projected starting goalies
Jordan Binnington vs. Philipp Grubauer
Binnington is coming off a shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday in which he allowed four goals on 25 shots. It snapped a three-game win streak and dropped his record to 22-7-5 for the season. He has a 2.51 goals against average and .915 save percentage.
Grubauer stopped all 27 shots he faced in a shutout against the San Jose Sharks Thursday. He is 13-10-4 on the season with a .911 SV% and 2.81 GAA.
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Blues at Avalanche: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Blues 3, Avalanche 2
Moneyline (ML)
The value’s on the BLUES (+115). They have a 10-point lead over the Avs (-139) atop the Central Division with only one extra game played. They’re 6-2-2 over their last 10 games, while the Avalanche are 3-4-3 over their last 10. Colorado is 12-7-4 at home, but St. Louis is one of the best road teams in the NHL with a 13-6-4 road record.
The Blues lead the head-to-head season series 2-1, though the Avs took the most recent meeting 7-3 in Colorado Jan. 2.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Blues to win in regulation, overtime or a shootout returns a profit of $11.50.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The safer, but much less profitable play, is backing the BLUES (+1.5, -239) to either lose by just 1 goal or win outright. The Blues are 24-24 against the spread for the season but 13-10 on the road. The Avs are 27-20 overall but 11-12 at home, as both teams have reverse splits from expectations.
The Blues have had an extra day of rest, and will certainly be able to keep this close, if unable to earn the full two points.
Over/Under (O/U)
Back the UNDER 5.5 (+110) in search of a larger profit. Both teams are 6-4 against the Over/Under across their last 10 games. The last two head-to-head meetings hit the Over, but the plus-money here is too tempting to turn down in what’s expected to be a tight divisional battle.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 172-157
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