Two clubs that split their season series one win each a year ago, the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets face off at Nationwide Arena for an East-versus-West showdown. The action gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 9 and it can be seen live on Altitude Sports & Entertainment.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Odds
Colorado (+130) is playing the role of underdog to Columbus (-150), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at an even 6 goals (-125 for the under, +105 for the over).
Colorado is 2-0 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 2.0 units this season. That winning percentage, ranked first in the league so far in this young season, is a solid improvement over the 43-39 record from last year’s regular season campaign.
The Avalanche have scored on 28.6 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a nice improvement from last season, when they were ranked 10th in the league by converting on 21.3 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has also gotten stronger, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 83.3 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked third overall last season) to 100.0 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, the Avs have been whistled for penalties 5.0 times per game this season. Last year, that number was the mark in the league at 4.0 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to kill penalties for 10.0 minutes per outing this season.
Boasting a .948 save percentage and 27.5 saves per game, Semyon Varlamov (2-0) has been the primary option in goal for Colorado this season.
On the other bench, Columbus is 1-1 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.6 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through two regular season outings, two of its games have gone under the total, while zero have gone over and none have pushed.
The Blue Jackets have killed off a remarkable 75.0 percent of all penalties, compared to 75.0 percent a year ago (when they were ranked 29th overall). They’ve converted on 11.1 percent of their power plays this year after scoring on 17.0 percent (ranked 25th in league) last season.
Columbus skaters have been penalized only 2.0 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.1, the lowest mark in the NHL. After serving an average of 7.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to kill penalties for only 4.0 minutes per matchup this season.
Sergei Bobrovsky (32.0 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for the Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky has zero wins and one loss to his credit and has maintained a mediocre 3.07 goals against average and a .914 save percentage this season.
Colorado Avalanche at Columbus Blue Jackets Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Blue Jackets, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Columbus was 6-4 in games that ended in a shootout last year. Colorado went 2-1 in shootouts.
Colorado has managed only 0.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Columbus is averaging 32.0 shots per game over its last five at home.
Colorado skaters recorded 20.4 hits per game last season, while the Jackets logged 21.8 hits per matchup.
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