NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Avalanche vs. Wild (March 27)
Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Colorado’s Erik Johnson, Kurtis MacDermid and Andrew Cogliano.
- The Avalanche are short road favorites against the Wild on Sunday night.
- Colorado is the Stanley Cup favorite, but Minnesota has been extremely tough on home ice this season.
- Continue reading for a full breakdown of this matchup, including a betting pick from our NHL analyst.
Avalanche vs. Wild Odds
| Avalanche Odds | -130 |
| Wild Odds | +105 |
| Over/Under | 6.5 |
| Time | 6 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
| Odds via BetMGM. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
The Colorado Avalanche meet the Minnesota Wild on Sunday for what could potentially be a playoff preview.
The Wild have been dominant on home ice all season long with at 22-7-1 record. Will they be able to find another result here against the Stanley Cup favorites?
Avalanche Have Most Talented Roster in the League
The Avalanche have won five of their last six games, and have effectively displayed their ridiculous level of depth with Samuel Girard and Gabriel Landeskog injured during that time.
Over those six games, the Avalanche have a dominant +10 goal differential while displaying a well-balanced offensive attack. Nathan Mackinnon and Mikko Rantanen haven't missed a beat with the still-excellent Valeri Nichushkin skating on the top line.
Nazem Kadri remains red-hot centering an excellent second line with Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher, and even without Landeskog the top nine for the Avalanche is ridiculously deep.
Cale Makar scored his 24th goal of the season Friday against Philadelphia, setting the single-season record for an Avalanche defender, and Devon Toews has been ridiculously good in his own right, with that duo making up arguably the best defensive pairing in the league.
The last several games have just given us more confirmation that the Avs have the most talented roster in hockey, and at this point the main concern handicapping Avalanche games is simply avoiding potential letdown spots.
Darcy Kuemper has shined in his first season with the Avalanche, posting a +19.8 goals saved above expected rating with a .923 save % throughout 45 games played this season.
Wild a Step Below Division Rivals
The Wild have picked up their play lately following a long downswing in late February and early March, but this team is still clearly a tier below the Avalanche in talent.
The Wild's roster is very well-rounded, it just lacks as many elite talents as the Avalanche. I believe in this back-to-back spot it will be harder to put together the level of sharp defensive prowess needed to keep the Avs in check.
At -130, it seems this line as currently composed is possibly overweighing the Wild's dominant home record.
The other part of the concern is that Cam Talbot has not offered great net-minding for the Wild this season, and we will see him here.
Talbot has played to a -4.0 goals saved above expected rating with a .910 save % throughout 40 games played this season.
Avalanche vs. Wild Pick
Two of the league's best offensive unit's will be meeting here, and I think we should see both play to that strength in what should be an up-tempo contest.
Colorado's wildly deep offence has it leading Western Conference scoring by a wide margin, and I feel we will see the Avs again able to generate some quality looks.
Talbot has been less than dominant this season, and I think even with Minnesota in the midst of some better defensive play we will see Colorado put together a good output here.
I see value on two plays in a spot where I imagine Colorado will most likely win a high-scoring contest.
I will be backing the over 6.5 at -120, and backing the Avalanche at -130. Ideally both will hit, but I feel that most likely Colorado will score 3+ in this game, so splitting the two at worst should be very reasonable.
Pick: Over 6.5 -120 (Play to -140), Colorado Avalanche -130 (Play to -140)
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