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The Penguins have been a mess all season. 

Stuck in no man’s land of trying to compete while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are still in town and refresh their roster so that they don’t bottom out, the Penguins have struggled to find consistency since opening night. 

Pittsburgh’s lack of scoring depth and porous defense has been its undoing, and those factors are only going to get worse as the team plays out the remaining month of the season without Jake Guentzel, who was traded at the deadline. 

While the Pens are playing empty-calorie contests, the Avalanche are in a three-way scrap to win the Central Division and a four-way race to finish with the best record in the Western Conference.

And the Avs look full value to do both. 

Colorado’s offense has been firing on all cylinders of late, and its five-on-five numbers rank among the best in the league over its past 10 games.

The Avs have hit their stride at the perfect time and should have their way with Pittsburgh’s leaky defense. 

A lot of NHL bettors tend to tread carefully in the final few weeks of the regular season.

By this time every year there are a number of teams playing out the string and others that are in must-win situations. 

Bookmakers tend to bake these motivational factors into the lines, which means you’re often paying a premium on teams still in the race, especially when they’re going up against lottery-bound clubs. 

Sometimes it’s worth it. 

The play: Avalanche -1.5 goals.