The Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche have battled already twice this season, with each team taking a win. In this third and final showdown in the regular season between these two Stanley Cup contenders, which do you think will come away with the victory?With all that being said, let’s now take a look at our NHL odds series plus our Vegas Golden Knights-Colorado Avalanche prediction for this showdown scheduled at 9:00 PM ET.
Here are the Vegas Golden Knights-Colorado Avalanche NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Golden Knights-Avalanche Odds
Vegas Golden Knights: +1.5 (-220)
Colorado Avalanche: -1.5 (+176)
Over: 6.0 (+100)
Under: 6.0 (-120)
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Why The Golden Knights Could Cover The Spread
The Golden Knights will look to get back to their winning ways again, as they just lost to the Dallas Stars at home last Saturday via shootout, 3-2. That game could have gone either way, just like the previous two Vegas outings. The Golden Knights have been in some pretty tight contests of late. Their last three games have all gone at least the overtime stage, with their lone win over that stretch coming in the form of a 3-2 OT victory against the Calgary Flames at home last Thursday.
What's encouraging for the Golden Knights, though, is the fact that they have posted an even-strength Corsi For rate better than 50 percent in each of those games. And even though the Golden Knights are just a middle-of-the-road team this season with a 5-on-5 50 CF% — good only for 20th in the NHL so far in the 2022-23 regular season — they have been a tad better since the start of February. In fact, they have posted a 51.3 CF% on even-strength scenarios in eight February games, during which Vegas has gone 6-0-2 and posted a scintillating 106.9 PDO.
But perhaps more has to be said about the kind of defense Vegas has been showing on the ice. The Golden Knights have not allowed more than two regulation goals in eight of their last nine games dating back to their late-January 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on the road.
Goalie Laurent Brossoit has got the hot hand in front of the net for the Golden Knights as he started for the team in their last three outings. The Golden Knights might turn to him again, given how he's performed for them. Against the Stars, Brossoit played well enough to earn second-star honors, turning away 41 of 43 shots. Another top performer for Vegas in the Dallas game was Jack Eichel who scored in the third period and got him his fifth goal in five games for the Golden Knights, who are averaging 3.20 goals per game.
Why The Avalanche Could Cover The Spread
Colorado is in terrific form heading into this showdown at home versus the Golden Knights. After trampling the Flames at home last Saturday, 4-1, the Avalanche have extended their unbeaten streak to five games. Alexandar Georgiev was quite the presence between the pipes for the Avs versus Calgary, as he stopped 28 of 29 shots from the Flames. On offense, Valeri Nichushkin finished with two assists while Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Newhook, and Denis Malgin each had a goal. MacKinnon will come into this game against the Golden Knights with eight goals and nine assists in the last 10 Colorado outings.
In other words, the Avs' offense and defense have been humming over the last several games, so they are looking to stay hot on both ends of the ice when they take on the Golden Knights. And with a player like MacKinnon in the groove, the Avs will be confident they can create enough premium scoring opportunities for Colorado, which is averaging just 3.12 goals per game this season but has generated 3.44 goals per outing since the start of February.
Colorado is also 10th in the league with a 5-on-5 scoring for chance rate of 51.8% On the other side of the ice, the Avalanche are posting an average of just 2.7 goals allowed per game, seventh-best in the NHL. Georgiev could be tasked with the netminding duties anew for this meeting with Vegas. He started for Colorado in the previous two meetings with the Golden Knights, going 1-1 with five goals allowed in 63 total shots faced.
Final Golden Knights-Avalanche Prediction & Pick
The Avalanche are winning of late, but they have also been a bit lucky because their opponents have been winning the possession battle over their last few outings. Vegas will capitalize on that and win this game.
Final Vegas-Avalanche Prediction & Pick: Vegas Golden Knights +1.5 (-220)
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