The best teams from a year ago who have endured a gnarly hangover from last season's success will meet up for some action as the Florida Panthers travel to the Mile High City to take on the Colorado Avalanche. Join us for our NHL odds series where our Panthers-Avalanche prediction and pick will be revealed.
Entering play with a losing record in unfathomable fashion at 18-19-4, it is hard to wrap your head around the fact that Florida has been so mediocre during the first half of the regular season. Nevertheless, the Panthers did win back-to-back games before losing to the Stars their last time out, so don't sleep on Florida's chances of playing a complete 60 minutes en route to a possible victory over the Avs.
Finally putting an end to their five-game losing streak, the Avalanche were able to prevail by downing the Oilers in overtime by a score of 3-2 in Edmonton. Now returning home where Colorado has posted a 9-7-3 overall mark, can the Avalanche put their losing ways behind them and gain some ground in the playoff picture out west?
Here are the Panthers-Avalanche NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Panthers-Avalanche Odds
Florida Panthers: +1.5 (-220)
Colorado Avalanche: -1.5 (+176)
Over: 6.5 (+102)
Under: 6.5 (-124)
How To Watch Panthers vs. Avalanche
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+/Hulu
Time: 9:30 ET/6:30 PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Panthers Could Cover The Spread
At around this time a year ago, the Panthers appeared to be a team not to be messed with en route to eventually capturing the President's Trophy with the best record in the National Hockey League. Unfortunately, the Panthers fell victim to the President's Trophy curse when they were swept in stunning fashion by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of playoff action.
So far, it seems like the Panthers have not fully recovered since that discouraging moment, as they don't have that same magic that captured the hearts of so many hockey fans throughout the state of Florida. Still, the Panthers possess some skill on each of their lines that could make some noise against an Avalanche roster that still has a bulk of playmakers on the injury report.
With that being said, Florida needs to attack Colorado with a healthy amount of newcomer Matthew Tkachuk. Sadly, Tkachuk is the only skater on this roster that has scored at least 20 goals on the season, and it is hard to argue against the fact that this Panthers offense runs through him.
Outside of Tkachuk's phenomenal play, Florida has been absolutely dreadful when it comes to their power play attack. In fact, the Panthers are in the bottom half of the league with a 20% conversion rate on their extra-man advantage. Not to mention, but this was on full display in the loss to the Stars as they went 0-4 altogether when supplied with a power play opportunity. Since Florida's defensive effort on the season has been extremely dyer as well, capitalizing in this department will be critical, especially in a tough environment at Ball Arena.
Why The Avalanche Could Cover The Spread
On paper, the Avalanche haven't been quite disappointing as the Panthers this season, but the defending champs are nowhere near where they want to be at this point of the season. Faced with a 2-0 deficit early that looked like the Avs were about to lose their sixth consecutive game, it was the stellar play of stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar that provided the heroics for a team that desperately needed it.
Simply put, it is Mikko Rantanen's world right now and we are all just simply living in it. With the injury bug rearing its ugly head at the Avalanche this season so far, it has been Rantanen who has been tasked in carrying the load for this offense. Thus far, he couldn't be playing better. Not only is Rantanen tied for seventh in the league with 26 goals on the season, he has also been peppering opposing goalies of late with nine shots on net in back-to-back games. Without a doubt, finding the 26-year-old from Finland in open space on the ice could be an unstoppable game plan against the slumping Panthers.
In addition, if the Avalanche can get some solid play in net from goalie Alexandar Georgiev, then covering the spread will be exactly what the doctor ordered. In his last two starts, the 26-year-old net-minder has posted a .931 save percentage on his way to a combined 67 saves on 72 shots faced. Even though he is streaky at times, Colorado can only hope that the good Georgiev shows up to play for tonight's primetime showdown.
Final Panthers-Avalanche Prediction & Pick
The Panthers are o-5 in their last five games against teams that have a winning record, and by no means should that be expected to change based on how they have been playing. Although the Avalanche haven't been playing good hockey by any means, they will score an empty-net goal late to give them the spread-covering victory in Denver.
Final Panthers-Avalanche Prediction & Pick: Avalanche -1.5 (+172)
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