Avalanche vs. Blues Prediction
The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will collide tonight as the reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues host the Colorado Avalanche. Can Colorado carve out a big win on the road as the slight underdogs?
Game Snapshot
71 Colorado Avalanche at 72 St. Louis Blues
Monday, December 16, 2019
Enterprise Center at 8:05PM ET
TV: ESPN+
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, the Blues are a -115 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Avalanche are a -105 underdog, while the total sits at 5.5 goals. As of Monday morning, 53 percent of public bets are coming in on host St. Louis. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for up-to-date info.
MacKinnon leads Avs to win
Colorado secured a 3-1 home victory Friday night over New Jersey to improve to 21-8-3 on the season. Gabriel Landeskog put the Avs on the board with 8:23 left in the first period on a power play goal assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Samuel Girard. Valeri Nichushkin made it 2-0 at the 12:04 mark of the second period off an assist by Mark Barberio. The Devils trimmed it to 2-1 with 4:12 left in the third period, but Colorado added a MacKinnon empty-net goal in the game’s final minute to put it away with assists courtesy of Mikko Rantanen and Matt Nieto. Pavel Francouz earned the win between the pipes as he allowed one goal on 38 shots.
Blues rally past Blackhawks
St. Louis trailed 3-0 in the third period at home Saturday night against Chicago before staging a massive comeback to secure a 4-3 win. The Blackhawks scored early in the second period and twice in the first 4:16 of the third period to go up by three goals. The Blues answered 24 seconds later to cut it to 3-1 as Tyler Bozak scored off an assist by Robert Thomas. Bozak scored again with 6:52 remaining to bring the hosts within a goal as Thomas drew another assist. Jacob De La Rose tied it at 3-3 12 seconds later off an assist by Ryan O’Reilly. Justin Faulk scored the go-ahead goal with 2:26 left on Thomas’ third assist. Jordan Binnington picked up the win as he surrendered three goals on 22 shots.
NHL Betting Trends
Colorado
The Avalanche are 8-1 in their last nine games overall. Colorado is 5-2 in its last seven games as an underdog.
St. Louis
The Blues are 21-7 in the last 28 home meetings versus the Avs. St. Louis is 5-2 in its last seven home games.
Prediction:
This is going to be a fantastic contest and I am drawn to the Avalanche in this spot. They had an extra day of rest and have been very difficult to beat lately. St. Louis needed a big rally to get past a much lesser team in the Blackhawks and Colorado will certainly be far less forgiving. Based on how each team is coming into action tonight, I feel the best play is siding with Colorado.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: COLORADO AVALANCHE -105