Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche odds, picks and predictions
Ryan DodsonThe Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche meet Wednesday at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, for Game 5 of their best-of-7, Western Conference second-round NHL playoff series. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (TNT/ TruTV/ MAX). Let's analyze NHL odds around the Wild vs. Avalanche and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Best-of-7 series: Avs lead 3-1
The Wild fell 5-2 on Monday in Game 4 at home to teeter on the brink of elimination. The Avs scored 2 empty-netters, which makes the score look more lopsided than the game actually was. The Wild's top players were just no-shows. LW Kirill Kaprizov and LW Matt Boldy combined for 87 goals in the regular season. They combined for no points, 2 SOG and a -5 while on the ice in Game 4.
The Avs won more draws, had more hits and put more shots on goal in Game 4. It was a 1-1 game entering the third period, but Colorado stayed the course. C Nathan MacKinnon scored his sixth goal of the playoffs but gave his club a scare after he took a puck to the face, which required repairs to his nose. G Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 19 of 21 shots in his first start of thsee playoffs.
Watch the NHL on Fubo!Wild at Avalanche odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 4 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Wild +185 (bet $100 to win $185) | Avalanche -225 (bet $225 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Wild +1.5 (-130) | Avalanche -1.5 (+110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Wild at Avalanche goalies
Jesper Wallstedt (5-4, 2.66 GAA, .912 SV% in postseason career) vs. Mackenzie Blackwood (4-4, 2.57 GAA, .895 SV% in postseason career)
Wallstedt stopped 29 of 32 shots fired his way in Game 4. He stopped 6 of 7 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 and 25 of 27 overall at 5-on-5. He is the second-best goalie at even strength among those who have played 3 or more games with a .942 SV% at 5-on-5. The Wild have to keep the Avs off the PP to survive.
Blackwood replaced Scott Wedgewood for Game 4 after the latter was pulled in Game 3 after allowing 3 goals on 12 shots in 24 minutes. Though this is Blackwood's second start of these playoffs, he played in 7 games last playoffs, when the Avs lost to the Dallas Stars in 7 games in the first round.
Wild at Avalanche picks and predictions
Prediction
Avalanche 4, Wild 2
Moneyline
The Wild look to have peaked at the wrong time, and that came last series against Dallas. They were outscored 14-8 in the 2 previous games in Denver, and I think this series closes here.
That said, I'd rather take the puck line.
PASS.
Puck line/Against the spread
Take AVALANCHE -1.5 (+110). Every game in this series has been decided by at least 3 goals. To receive plus-money at home for it to happen again is attractive.
Over/Under
This can go either way. The Over is 3-1 thus far in the series, and one team has scored 5+ goals in each game. With so much on the line, though, I LEAN UNDER 6.5 (-115).
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