The Avalanche look to complete the sweep tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. If Colorado wins, they’ll advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2001. In their history they have made two finals appearances, winning both.
Colorado Avalanche @ Edmonton Oilers (Series: COL 3-0)
Colorado is the road favorite in this matchup tonight around -130/-140 on the money line depending on the book. They’re 6-0 in away games this post season covered the puck line in five of those six games. The Avalanche have also been favorited in every game in these playoffs but are going off at their second shortest price tonight. In Game 1 they went off at -115 but that line has increased tonight despite the fact that Edmonton needs to win to stay alive.
The starting lineups will look a little different tonight. Evander Kane hit Nazem Kadri from behind in Game 3 knocking him out of the rest of this series. Due to the play, Evander Kane received a one game suspension. Oilers prospect, Dylan Halloway will also make his NHL debut tonight. He was selected 14th overall in the 2020 draft.
Neither team has confirmed their starter for tonight. Pavel Francouz has started the past two games with Darcy Kuemper out. Mike Smith has started all three games for Edmonton but has allowed three or more goals in each of those games. Smith struggled in Game 1 but played pretty well in the two most recent games. If the Oilers don’t go with Mike Smith tonight, it’s expected that Mikko Koskinen will get the nod.
Despite the fact that it is an elimination game for the Oilers, I do think the Avalanche close the series out tonight. They’ve been the better team in nearly every category and even with the loss of Kadri, which is significant, they have enough depth scoring to make up for it. Leon Draisaitl also hasn’t been the same since suffering an ankle injury in the first round and Colorado has the speed to shut down McDavid.
PICK: [1u] Colorado Avalanche -135 (Caesars)
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
