The Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets meet Thursday in NHL action from the Nationwide Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets prediction.
Colorado Avalanche Recap
The Colorado Avalanche come into this game looking to build on their 3-1 win over Buffalo last time out to improve to 3-0-1 this season. After this game, Colorado will head home for a game against Boston.
Avalanche Looking To Build Momentum
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas each have a team-high 8 points with Necas logging 3 goals and 5 assists while MacKinnon has a team-high 4 goals and 4 assists. Cale Makar has 5 points with a goal and 4 assists while Artturi Lehkonen has 3 points with 2 goals and an assist. Sam Malinski has a goal and assist while Victor Olofsson and Brent Burns each have a pair of assists. Gavin Brindley and Ross Colton each have a goal and Brock Nelson, Valeri Nichushkin and Jack Drury each have an assist so far this season. Scott Wedgewood is 3-0-1 in goal for Colorado so far this season with a 1.72 GAA and a .935 save percentage so far this season.
Why the Colorado Avalanche will win
- The Blue Jackets have lost each of their last nine games as underdogs following a home loss.
- The Avalanche have won eight of their last nine games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- The road team has covered the puck line in each of the Avalanche’s last four games.
Colorado Avalanche Player Prop Facts
- Nathan MacKinnon has scored the last goal in each of the Avalanche’s last three games.
- Nathan MacKinnon has scored at least one goal in seven of the Avalanche’s last eight games.
- Artturi Lehkonen has recorded a point in each of the Avalanche’s last six road games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- Cale Makar has recorded at least one assist in each of the Avalanche’s last eight Thursday games.
- Martin Necas ranks T1st in the league for multi-point games (3) this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recap
The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this game looking to rebound from hteir 3-2 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils last time out to sit at 1-2 this season. After this game, Columbus will head home for a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Blue Jackets Looking For Consistency
Kirill Marchenko has a team-high 4 goals while Dmitri Voronkov has 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists. Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski each have 3 points with a goal and 2 assists each. Adam Fantilli has 2 points with a goal and an assist while Ivan Provorov has a pair of assists. Miles Wood has a goal of his own. Charlie Coyle, Denton Mateychuk, Cole Sillinger, Zach Aston-Reese and Damon Severson each have an assist as well this year. Elvis Merzlikins has gone 1-0 with a 4.00 GAA and a .923 save percentage in goal for Columbus this year while Jet Greaves is 0-2 with a 2.06 GAA and a .932 save percentage so far this season.
Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win
- The Blue Jackets have won four of their last five home games.
- The Avalanche have lost two of their last three games as road favorites following a road win.
- The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in each of their last seven games.
- The Avalanche have failed to cover the puck line in four of their last five games at Nationwide Arena.
Columbus Blue Jackets Player Prop Facts
- Dmitri Voronkov has scored a goal in four of the Blue Jackets’ last five games as underdogs.
- Charlie Coyle has recorded at least one assist in five of his last six appearances against the Avalanche.
- Charlie Coyle has recorded at least one point in each of his last eight appearances against the Avalanche.
- Zach Werenski ranks 1st in the league for average time on ice (27:17) this season.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Avalanche’s last four road games against Metropolitan Division opponents have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Four of the Blue Jackets’ last five games against Central Division opponents have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Eight of the last nine Thursday night games between teams from different conferences have gone OVER the total goals line.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction
I’m on the Avalanche here. I just don’t think the Blue Jackets are at that point yet. Don’t get me wrong, the Blue Jackets are a solid value team that were able to surprise a lot of folks last year. The problem is that the Avalanche are just on another level right now as far as I’m concerned, and I think that the Avalanche get the job done in this one as they’re just on another level right now.