The Colorado Avalanche will be looking for their fifth straight win when they take on the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. Colorado has beaten Los Angeles in the last two meetings, including a 4-1 victory back on March 14.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this East Division battle at the Ball Arena. Colorado is the favorite at -345. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts the odds for Los Angeles at +285 as the underdog.
Los Angeles lost defenseman Matt Roy and Tobias Bjornfot, both of whom will be out indefinitely. The Avalanche have a slew of injuries. Defenseman Patrik Nemeth and right wing Joonas Donskoi are listed as questionable for Friday. Defensemen Bowen Byram, Dennis Gilbert, and Erik Johnson, and forward Matt Calvert are out. The big blow is the loss of star goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who is out until early May.
Kings Swept by Vegas at Home
The Vegas Golden Knights defeated Los Angeles on Wednesday, 6-2, completing a sweep of their two-game series in L.A. Jonathan Quick gave up three goals on the first eight shots he faced before being pulled from the contest. The Kings got two goals from Trevor Moore.
Los Angeles is 20th in goals per game at 2.69 and is 20th in shooting percentage at 9.1%. They are 13th on the power-play at 21.4%. With two assists on Wednesday Adrian Kempe now has 24 points, fifth-most on the team. Anze Kopitar is still the team leader in points with 43.
Los Angeles is 19th in goals allowed per game at 3.00 and is second in penalty killing it 84.4%. Calvin Petersen returns to the net on Friday. He is 7-11-4 with a 2.74 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
Dubnyk Earns Victory in Avalanche Debut
Devan Dubnyk made his debut with Colorado a successful one, stopping 31 of 34 shots as the Avalanche defeated St. Louis, 4-3. J.T. Compher had a goal and an assist and Liam O’Brien added two assists per Colorado.
Colorado is first in the NHL in goals per game at 3.58 and is ninth in shooting percentage at 10.3%. They are eighth on the power-play at 23.6%. Mikko Rantanen is red-hot, scoring five goals in his last five games. He has points in six straight games, recording nine total points during that span.
Colorado is third in goals allowed per game at 2.33 and is eighth in penalty killing at 82.7%. With Grubauer out, it will be Dubnyk for the Avalanche. He came from San Jose where he was 3-9-2 with a 3.18 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
Trends:
Los Angeles:
- 3-9 in their last 12 games.
- 3-9 in their last 12 games against teams with a winning record.
Colorado:
- 21-6 in their last 27 games.
- 19-7 in their last 26 games at home area
Even with Dubnyk between the pipes for the Avalanche, they are still a far better team. Nothing seems to hold this team down, and they are rolling behind an offense that is putting up big numbers of goals each night and a defense that is stifling opponents. Los Angeles is not very good on the road, and they are going to take it on the chin against the NHL’s best home team.
Pick: Take Colorado at -345.
The Total:
I am a bit surprised that oddsmakers have not made the total higher in this game. I get that in the vast majority of contests recently that the total has been set at 5.5, but with Grubauer out and the Kings having solid goaltending at best, you would think this game would be set to go over. Rantanen could score at least two goals on his own in this game, so the over seemed like a sensible choice.
Pick: Go over 5.5 (-125).