St Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche Prediction, Pick and Preview, May 17 (5/17): NHL

Credit: photo by Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Odds:

2021-2022 season stats

Preview

The St Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche will meet at the Ball Arena in Colorado to play the Game 1 of the playoffs 2nd round in the West. The Blues beat the Wild in 6 games while the Avs swept the Predators.

St Louis Blues

The Blues have won 4 of their last 6 games and are 25-19 on the road with a 53-35 record overall ranking 3rd in the Central division. The Blues are 19-11 against the rest of their division. St. Louis has scored 311 goals and is third in the NHL averaging 3.8 goals per game. Vladimir Tarasenko leads the team with 34.

Vladimir Tarasenko has 34 goals and 48 assists for the Blues. Ryan O'Reilly has scored seven goals with six assists over the last 10 games.

In their last 10 games the Blues are 6-4, averaging 4 goals, 5.9 assists, 3.7 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado have won 4 games in a row and are 34-9 at home. They have 60-26 overall record ranking 1st in the Central Division. The Avalanche are 19-7-4 against divisional rivals. Colorado averages 8.8 penalty minutes per game, the ninth-most in the Western Conference and have gone 51-4-4 when scoring three or more goals.

Mikko Rantanen has 36 goals and 56 assists for the Avalanche. Artturi Lehkonen has scored six goals over the last 10 games.

In their last 10 games the Avalanche are 5-4, averaging 3.7 goals, 5.5 assists, 4.1 penalties and 10.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.

BETTING TRENDS

Blues are 4-1 in their last 5 games against the spread

Blues are 25-16 in their road games against the spread

The totals have gone OVER in 5 of Avalanche' last 5 games

Avalanche are 3-2 in their last 5 games against the spread

Prediction

The Avalanche had a very easy 1st round by sweeping the Predators but this series it won't be like that. The Blues offense is on fire and are averaging 4 goals per game and the last 3 games against Colorado were very close ones. I think the Avs are going to win this series but I'm gonna take the Blues to cover the puck line in every game.

PICK: Blues +1.5 (-130)

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