Colorado A Solid Pick As Favorite vs Visiting Minnesota
Wild vs Avalanche Odds Favor Playoff-Bound Colorado to Sweep Series from Wild
Favored Colorado is Expected to Be Without 100-Point Scorer Rantanen
The playoff hopes of the Minnesota Wild could end at any point with Minnesota needing to win the rest of its games beginning with the matchup with Colorado and get some help to land one of the remaining playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Wild vs Avalanche odds favor host Colorado.
Colorado has won the previous three games against Minnesota this season with the Wild outscoring the Avalanche 10-5.
The NHL betting lines have the Avalanche priced at -200 to win outright and improve to 6-1 in the last seven games against the Wild as Colorado is favored in its fifth straight game against Minnesota. There are -140 odds for the Wild to cover against the puck line as the 1.5-goal underdog and +170 odds for the Wild to win outright
Colorado is tied for third at +800 in the odds of winning the Stanley Cup title. Minnesota is well back at +50000 in the NHL championship odds.
Keep on reading for more on the matchup between Minnesota and Colorado.
Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche 
Day/Time:
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Streaming: ESPN
Wild Aren’t Crazy About The Missed Opportunities
When the story of the 2023-24 Minnesota Wild season is written, it will be a tale of what might have been.
Minnesota has one win in its last seven overtime games and those points left unclaimed will ultimately keep the Wild out of the postseason as Minnesota trails reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas by nine points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with Minnesota having five games remaining.
Minnesota had a stretch of five one-goal wins in a span of six games in December. During the rest of the season, it has been a challenge to win the one-goal games with the 10 overtime losses the third most in the Western Conference. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Wild vs Avalanche odds.
Eight of Minnesota’s last 12 games have landed under the total.
Lack of Scoring Depth a Concern for Avs
It has been business as usual for Colorado‘s duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. MacKinnon has a franchise record 133 points while Rantanen is three points shy of matching his career-high of 105 points. Rantanen is not expected to play against Minnesota due to a concussion.
While MacKinnon and Rantanen made history by becoming the first Avalanche players to have back-to-back 100-point seasons, the next highest scoring forward is Jonathan Drouin with 53 points. That could be an issue when the playoffs get underdog.
MacKinnon has a goal and five assists in the first three games against Minnesota this season and that could factor into the Wild vs Avalanche odds.
Four of Colorado’s last five games went over the total.
Last Meeting
After winning the first game meetings by one goal and that included an overtime victory on Mar. 8, Colorado got two goals from Jonathan Drouin in a 5-2 win as the road favorite.
The game went over the six-goal total on Mikko Rantanen’s empty-net goal with 1:28 left to play after just one of the previous seven games between Minnesota and Colorado finishing over the total.
Wild vs Avalanche Betting Preview
Colorado looks to become the first NHL team this season with 30 home victories while taking another step toward earning home-ice advantage for at least the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon and forward Marcus Foligno are both out for the season.
Along with Rantanen being out, winger Miles Wood is also out and winger Logan O’Connor is out for the season.
Colorado has won five of its last six home games against Minnesota.
The Avalanche is 20-4-1 in its last 25 games as a home favorite but has covered against the puck line in just 14 of those games. Since the start of December, Minnesota is 6-7-1 outright as a road underdog with the Wild covering ATS in nine of those NHL matchups.
The Avalanche is 43-21-5 as a favorite this season while the Wild is 10-28-5 when listed as the underdog.
Colorado has covered in 22 of 38 home games while Minnesota has an almost identical mark of 21-16 against the spread on the road.
The Avalanche leads the NHL with 45 of its games going over the total.
Four of Minnesota’s last five games have landed under the total as have five of the last seven games played in April.
Each of Colorado’s last five games against Western Conference teams went over the total as have four of the last six matchups with Central Division teams. The total is listed at 6.5 goals for this matchup.
There have been 26 goals scored in Colorado’s last three games so going with this matchup to go over the total could be the best option.
For NHL betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
