Commerical Content 21+

Odds provided by BetMGM
Series moneyline: Predators +450/Avalanche -650

If this series took place a few weeks ago, you could have made the argument that the Predators did have a possible — though unlikely — path to success against the Avalanche. Juuse Saros is one of the NHL’s best goaltenders and is talented enough to steal a couple of games and give the Predators a fighting chance against the juggernaut Avalanche. Unfortunately, Saros was injured in one of Nashville’s final regular-season games and now seems a longshot to feature in this best-of-7. 

Now the only argument that you can make for the Preds in this series is maybe they can get lucky, this is hockey after all. And while that notion is one of the things that makes the Stanley Cup Playoffs so great — anything can happen — it’s not the type of angle you want to bet on. 

With Saros out, the Predators will now turn to David “Big Save Dave” Rittich to try and keep Nashville in games against one of the league’s most dynamic attacks. Colorado ended up finishing fourth in goals per game and 5-on-5 scoring, but when you consider the injury issues that the Avs overcame to post those numbers, it becomes even more impressive.

Now fully healthy, we may finally see this team hit its ceiling — which is a scary proposition considering it just finished second overall this regular season. 

And while Colorado’s offense deserves the hype, this is not a one-dimensional team. The Avalanche finished inside the top-10 in goals against and expected goals allowed, showing that they aren’t just an offensive powerhouse. 

Colorado should have its way with the Predators at 5-on-5 and with Rittich backing up a pedestrian defense, we could see some blowouts before this series is said and done.

In all likelihood, bookmakers will see a lot of action on Colorado to sweep or on the series spread of -2.5 games at -110. While it does seem likely that this is a short series and the Avs make quick work of the Preds, the prices on the Avalanche are just not worth the risk.

However, one angle bettors should note is that oftentimes the market will overreact to what we see in Game 1, especially in blowouts. At the time of writing, Nashville is a +250 underdog in the curtain-raiser, should the Preds lose handily on Tuesday night, that number could balloon ahead of Game 2 and there could be some betting value on Nashville in that case.

Nashville Predators vs. Colorado Avalanche bet: Pass/no bet