The Colorado Avalanche, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, are ready to take the ice against Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena in a Western Conference showdown. This one gets underway at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 2 and it can be watched live on Fox Arizona Plus.
Colorado Avalanche at Arizona Coyotes Odds
Colorado is 8-5 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 4.3 units this season. Through 13 regular season matches, eight of its games have gone over the total, while three have gone under and just one has pushed. As a road team in 2019-20, the Avs are 4-2 SU.
The Avalanche have found the net on 21.6 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That mark hasn’t moved too much from last season, when they were ranked 10th in the NHL by scoring on 21.0 percent of their extra-man advantages. Their penalty kill has gotten stronger, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 79.3 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 22nd overall last year) to 80.5 percent this year..
Averaging 30.1 saves per game with a .918 save percentage, Philipp Grubauer (6-4-2) has been the top option in goal for Colorado this year. Grubauer did just play last night, however, so head coach Jared Bednar could opt to rest him and instead turn to Pavel Francouz (2-1 record, .926 save percentage, 2.63 goals against average).
On the other side of the ice, Arizona is 7-5 straight up (SU) and has earned 1.8 units for moneyline bettors this season. Seven of its outings have gone under the total, while four have gone over and just one has pushed. It’s 3-2 SU at home thus far.
The Coyotes have converted on just 21.1 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 21st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.4 percent of all penalties.
Darcy Kuemper (26.1 saves per game) has been the top choice in the crease for the Coyotes. Kuemper has five wins and three losses to his name and has registered a solid 1.87 goals against average and a .933 save percentage this year.
Colorado Avalanche at Arizona Coyotes Betting Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Avalanche, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The Coyotes are 3-1 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Avalanche are 2-1 SU when they serve more minutes than their opponent.
- After going 4-3 in games decided by a shootout last year, the Coyotes are off to a 1-0 start in shootouts this season. Colorado went 2-2 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
- The over has hit in four of Colorado’s last five games.
- Avalanche skaters ranked 22nd last year with 6.9 takeaways per game, but the team appears to be applying heavier pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s currently ranked third with 9.8 takeaways per contest.
