St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche Predictions, Odds, Picks

• The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild in six games in Round One.
• The Colorado Avalanche swept the Nashville Predators in Round One.
• Avalanche were 2-0-1 against the Blues during the regular season.

St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche Odds

Odds taken from DraftKings Sportsbook.

St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche Picks

Colorado Avalanche beat St. Louis Blues 4-2

Colorado Avalanche cover

Under 6.5 goals

The Colorado Avalanche will try to go up 2-0 against the St. Louis Blues in this Game Two battle. The Avalanche beat the Blues 3-2 in overtime in Game One behind a Josh Manson goal. Colorado was leading 2-1 going into the Third Period, but Jordan Kyrou tied it up with 3:14 left in the game. The Avalanche, however, did not waste too much time and scored with a little over eight minutes in the overtime period.

The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild in six games in Round One but early on, it looked like they were out of the series. The Blues were down 2-1 after a 5-1 Game Three loss. St. Louis decided to change goaltenders and put Jordan Binnington in net. Binnington thrived in his three starts and only allowed five goals. Offensively, the Blues scored five goals in Games Four, Five, and Six to put away the Wild.

St. Louis has seen some significant contributions from Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jordan Kyrou, and Justin Faulk in the Playoffs. O’Reilly has been a goal-scoring machine and leads the Blues with six goals. David Perron has five goals and four assists and has been a killer on the power-play. Vladimir Tarasenko has been dominant in the Playoffs. The Russian winger has six points through seven games. Jordan Kyrou and Justin Faulk have also been productive in the Playoffs and both have six points.

The Blues have an interesting goaltending situation. They started Ville Husso in net for the first three games, but he struggled in Games Two and Three. Husso gave up five goals on 27 shots in Game Two and four goals on 32 shots in Game Three. The Blues decided to make a change after Game Three and inserted Jordan Binnington. Binnington has excelled in the Playoffs and has a .944 save percentage. I expect him to stay the primary goaltender for the remainder of the playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche are the best team in the Western Conference and dominated the Nashville Predators in the First Round. They swept the Predators and scored 21 goals in the process.

The Avalanche have five players (Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Valeri Nichuskin, and Nathan MacKinnon) with three goals or more in the Playoffs. Nathan MacKinnon leads this group in scoring with five goals, but Cale Makar leads this group in points at ten.

The Avalanche have put Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz in net during the Playoffs. They are both playing well, but Darcy Kuemper has been elite at times. Kuemper is only giving up 1.67 goals per game and has a save percentage of .930.

The Avalanche are an elite team and playing at home, so they will win and go up 2-0.

Head-to-Head: St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche

Why Might the St. Louis Blues Win?

The St. Louis Blues will have a tough Game Two matchup. However, they will have a chance if they score first and get Robert Thomas involved.

The Blues are playing on the road and coming off an overtime loss. They have to make up for that by scoring first. If they score first, their chances of winning the game increase significantly.

Robert Thomas led the Blues in assists during the season. He was a productive player that could score and find his teammates. However, in the Playoffs, Thomas has been quiet. He has an unimpressive zero goals and three assists in seven games. Thomas needs to get more involved on offense.

Why Might the Colorado Avalanche Win?

The Avalanche are the favorites and will win if they draw penalties and use the home crowd to their advantage.

The Avalanche have been outstanding on the power-play. They have scored on almost 37% of their power-plays in the playoffs. If Colorado keeps drawing penalties, they will win Game Two.

The Avalanche are playing at home before going to St. Louis for Game Three. Colorado needs to use their home crowd to push them to a win before going on the road; the series will only get harder after Game Two.

Blues Key Player: (D) Colton Parayko

To the casual observer, Colton Parayko’s Playoff stats do not stand out. He only has one goal and four assists in seven games. However, Parayko has been instrumental in St. Louis’ playoff success and leads the Blues with a +/- of 6.

Parayko has to continue making the right plays, and St. Louis should be in a good position.

Avalanche Key Player: (C) Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri has been a top player for many seasons. With that being said, he has not been in top form in the Playoffs. He only has one goal and three assists.

Kadri needs to look for his shot and put a couple of pucks in the back of the net.

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