NHL: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Colorado Avalanche Clash
Both teams sit in second place in the Pacific and Central Division
The Vegas Golden Knights (23-12-5, 51 points) can right some recent wrongs with a road win against the Colorado Avalanche (26-12-3, 55 points).
Vegas has dropped six of their last eight games but may have much-needed good news for their lengthy injury report with goaltender Adin Hill participating in practice this week. Vegas is coming off a dominating 5-2 home win against the New York Islanders while the Avs are off a shootout win against the Boston Bruins (4-3) to 10-3-1 in their last 14 games.
Oddsmakers have made Colorado a -150 favorite with a total of 6.5 (under -120). Puck-drop is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on TNT and MAX. We start our preview of the Vegas vs Colorado clash starting with the Golden Knights.
Winning Culture Keeps Knights Afloat
The Vegas Golden Knights front office doesn’t accept excuses no matter who is on the injury report. Just ask former coach Pete DeBoer who almost guided VGK to the postseason despite playing a roster that should have been 8 miles away at their AHL affiliate in Henderson two seasons ago. Shortly after, DeBoer was fired, Bruce Cassidy was hired, and the rest is history.
The point is, that the Golden Knights Brass made up of owner Bill Foley, GM Kelly McCrimmon, and President George McPhee is going to let the team off the hook for their recent slide even with valuable pieces out of the lineup. With four of the seven being defensemen, the culture of the organization doesn’t allow for losing under any circumstances, and with the trade deadline looming, you can bet Vegas will make changes to be ready to defend their Cup.
If the NHL Playoff brackets were released today, the Knights would be the 2-seed in the Pacific. For bettors, the Knights are -2.08 units this season against the moneyline overall but have produced a very small profit as a dog (+0.05 units) with the trouble coming on the road where they are just 9-11 (-4.16 units).
So Far, So Good For The Avalanche
There are pockets of a season that define your playoff fate and the Colorado Avalanche are in the middle of stretches right now. The game against Vegas will be the fourth of six games against teams in the top three of their division. Through four games, Colorado has danced through the hockey landmines with three wins but nothing has been easy with all three needing extra sessions.
Like the Knights, they’re battling through injuries to Artturi Lehkonen, Bowen Byram, and Josh Manson did not play against the Bruins after being listed as questionable. You get the feeling that Colorado has been playing with fire after falling behind in many of their wins but like Vegas, Jerad Bednar has built a culture of winning that isn’t built on excuses, making tonight’s hockey score difficult to predict.
The Avalanche have produced a minuscule profit this season with 0.16 units won, but are +3.53 units at Ball Arena. We conclude our Vegas vs Colorado clash preview with our official selection.
Injuries Too Much To Overcome For Knights
There is no panic inside the Fortress known as T-Mobile Arena, but the Knights won’t be at home and the Avalanche have a score to settle. Colorado has won four of the last six meetings with Vegas but in their first meeting this season, the Golden Knights handed Bednar’s team a 7-0 beatdown behind Adin Hill’s 41 saves shutout.
Hill (10-2-2) has played 6:25 minutes since November 30th and doesn’t look like he’ll be ready for this tilt even though a surprise goaltender during warm-ups is something Cassidy likes to do. Right now, between the injuries, road trip, massive revenge spot, and Colorado just playing better, we’re not going to put our money behind Vegas. Lay the -150 in this one. That does it for our Vegas vs Colorado clash preview, we wish you nothing but the best with all your NHL picks and parlays this season.
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