The Colorado Avalanche, spearheaded by Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, are ready to take the ice against Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in an East-West tilt. NBC Sports Network will air the game, and the opening face-off is at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 16.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Odds
The Penguins (-120) are being picked as the favorites over the Avalanche (+100). The Over/Under (O/U), set at 7 goals, originally opened at -135 for the over and +115 for the under. Those odds have shifted since they opened, and they now sit at -120 over and +100 under.
Colorado is 5-0 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 5.2 units this year. That winning percentage, ranked first in the league so far this season, is a welcomed improvement over the 38-44 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Three of its contests have gone over the total, while one has gone under and just one has pushed.
The Avalanche have converted on 27.3 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a nice improvement from last year, when they were ranked 10th in the league by converting on 21.0 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year, however, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 79.3 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 22nd overall last season) to 71.4 percent this year..
With a .925 save percentage and 31.0 saves per game, Philipp Grubauer (4-0) has been the best option in goal for Colorado this year. If head coach Jared Bednar decides to rest him, however, the team could turn to Pavel Francouz (1-0 record, .944 save percentage, 1.90 goals against average).
Over on the other bench, Pittsburgh is 4-2 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.6 units this year. Three of its matches have gone over the total, while another three have gone under and none have pushed. Thus far, the team is 2-2 SU as the home team.
The Penguins have killed off an impressive 78.6 percent of all penalties, compared to 80.0 percent in 2018-19 (when they were ranked 17th overall). They have converted on 26.1 percent of their power plays this year after scoring on 23.8 percent (ranked fifth in league) last season.
Matt Murray (28.8 saves per game) has been the primary netminder in goal for the Penguins. Murray has three wins and two losses to his name and has maintained a pedestrian 2.82 goals against average and a .911 save percentage this season.
Colorado Avalanche at Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Predictions
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Avalanche, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- The Avalanche are 5-0 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 3-0 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their past five matchups.
- Colorado skaters ranked 22nd last year with 6.9 takeaways per game, but the team seems to be applying more intense pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s up to a ranking of sixth through 5 games with 9.2 takeaways per contest.
