Tuesday night means hockey night! As usual, we’ve got a featured slate of games throughout the evening with the first contests dropping the puck at 7 p.m. EST. After most of the action winds down, the late game pits the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche against the Seattle Kraken in a Western Conference battle. Do the Avs keep rolling, or can Seattle pull off an upset against all odds?
Read on for an Avalanche vs. Kraken prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday night’s game.
Avalanche vs. Kraken prediction, preview
As the midway point of the season approaches, these franchises couldn’t be headed in more opposite directions. The Avalanche are league leaders with 53 points and a +54 goal differential, losing just two games outright on the campaign. The Kraken are near the bottom of the standings with just 30 points and a goal differential of -19, tied for third-worst in the NHL. Will this matchup play out as expected?
No team has a better offense than Colorado with 4.00 goals per game behind a litany of top-end scoring options. Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the league with 55 points, while co-stars Martin Necas and Cale Makar have 43 and 39 apiece as well. The star power is real here with the trio all a +30 or better, and Arturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson also contribute with 27 and 21 points, too. This lineup is deep on all four lines though, and the blue line is excellent as well. Colorado also boasts the NHL’s best defense with 2.19 goals allowed per game and the top penalty kill at 85.7%, due in no small part to the play of Scott Wedgewood in net with a 2.11 GAA and .920 SV%. The only area this team doesn’t excel is on the power play with a 15.3% mark, but that hardly matters given the five-on-five dominance.
The team on the other side is the polar opposite in nearly every aspect. Seattle ranks dead last in goals per game with 2.47, and there’s not a single 20-point scorer on the roster, either. Jordan Eberle’s 19 points are a team-best, with Vince Dunn (18), Chandler Stephenson (17), Matty Beniers (17) and Brandon Montour (16) the next four on the leaderboard. Without anyone in double-digit goals, the Kraken lack a true star to lean on to create offense, though the 19.1% power play clip is around league average. The blue line is somewhat better overall at 16th in goals allowed per game with 3.00, but the 67.5% penalty kill is also at the bottom of the NHL. The netminder isn’t set in stone for tonight yet, but Philipp Grubauer may get the start with a 2.61 GAA and .900 SV%.
Avalanche vs. Kraken pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Avalanche as strong -325 favorites on the Moneyline while the Kraken come in at +260 odds. Betting splits show 90% of straight bets in Colorado’s favor on the road with 83% of wagers leaning over on the total of 5.5 combined goals.
Seattle faces what feels like an impossible battle here against the NHL’s top team. Colorado continues to wallop opponents and add insult to injury on a nightly basis, and given the quality of play on both ends, this game screams blowout. The Avalanche can score goals in a hurry no matter what defense and netminder is in front of them thanks to a league-best 34.7 shots per game, so finding offense likely won’t be a problem tonight. Plus, a Kraken attack averaging just 25.4 shots (27th) without standout scorers even on the top line won’t truly threaten the stingiest defense in the NHL, either. It may sound wild, but the Avs’ puck line of -2.5 actually does make plenty of sense since they likely score three-plus goals and could hold Seattle scoreless.
