Avalanche vs Rangers Picks and Predictions: Expect Goals in Bunches With These Hot Offenses

The New York Rangers struck late and picked up a 6-2 victory in Chicago last night. Now they have to turn around, fly home and meet the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden as the Rags look for their eighth straight win.

Can the Rangers keep their winning streak alive even with third-string goalie Adam Huska possibly getting the start? Can the Avalanche find some decent play in net with Darcy Kuemper still out? Find out in our free picks, predictions and NHL odds for Avalanche vs. Rangers.

Avalanche vs Rangers odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

The Avalanche opened at -140 and was as low as -135 this morning. However, that number vanished quickly and hit -150 to -155 shortly after. The total is sitting at 6 and heading to 6.5. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

Avalanche vs Rangers predictions

• Prediction: Avalanche ML (-145)
• Prediction: Over 6 (-115)
• Best bet: Over 6 (-115)

Predictions made on 12/08/2021 at 8:45 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Avalanche vs Rangers game info

• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
• Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: NHL Network

Avalanche vs Rangers betting preview

Injuries

Avalanche: Darcy Kuemper G (Out), Bowen Byram D (Questionable), Ryan Murray D (Out).

Rangers: Igor Shesterkin G (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.

Avalanche vs Rangers head-to-head record (since 2015)

Avalanche: 5-5 SU, 28 goals for.
Rangers: 5-5 SU, 27 goals for.

Betting trend to know

The Over is 7-1-1 in Avalanche’s last nine games following a win. Find more NHL betting trends for Avalanche vs. Rangers.

Avalanche vs Rangers picks and predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Moneyline/Puck line analysis

Handicapping back-to-back to games can be tricky given the limited information on starting goaltending which accounts for a good chunk of the winning probability. New York has the decision to go with Alex Georgiev in back-to-back games which is usually an uncommon thing these days in the NHL. The Rangers’ tender has done it once already this season and is 1-0 SU in the backend of a back-to-back allowing three goals to the Devils in an OT win. The Rangers are also riding a seven-game winning streak and facing a formidable foe. We’d lean that head coach Gerard Gallant goes with Georgiev over the rookie Adam Huska who has yet to make an NHL start. If Gallant was thinking of getting Huska in, it would have likely been versus the Blackhawks last night. 

Georgiev has made two starts since Igor Shesterkin went down and has played better than expected, picking up a pair of wins and allowing just four goals. Wednesday will be a much bigger test as the Blackhawks and Avalanche are two separate entities when it comes to offense. The Avs lead the league in goals per game at 4.14, are scoring 4.43 over their last seven games, have a Top-10 power play that has 14 goals in the last 10 and average a healthy 2.32 even-strength goals per game. 

The Colorado offense knows it has to score to win as the team is averaging 5.00 goals per game over its last five and has two losses in that stretch. Darcy Kuemper is on the shelf so the Avalanche is rolling with what is ultimately their No. 3 and No. 4 goaltenders. The combination of Justus Annunen and Jonas Johansson has surrendered 20 goals in the four games since Kuemper hit the shelf. If we had to speculate, he’d think Annunen gets the nod but neither goalie oozes confidence right now but if any offense can bail out poor goaltending it's Colorado.

The books don’t have a ton of confidence in the Colorado goalie situation either as the Avs were just -140 road favorites versus a team down to its backup goalie and playing on a traveling back-to-back. The Rangers were +160 in Toronto two weeks ago while Colorado was +115 in Toronto. That’s a 45-cent difference on neutral ground with Shesterkin in net and not on a B2B. This price seems a little short for the Avs and one we’re jumping on at -145 as we jump on the steam for the Avs.

Prediction: Avalanche ML (-145)

Over/Under analysis

This is where things get exciting for us. Over the last two weeks, both of these offenses sit in the Top 5 in goals per game: Colorado 4.43/game and New York 3.83/game. Both clubs have also been scorching with the man advantage as the Avs have scored seven times on their last 18 power-play opportunities while the Rangers have potted five PP markers in their last 11 opportunities. 

Leading the way for the home team is Artemi Panarin who has seven points in his last two games and five goals in as many games. Adam Fox is also riding a seven-game point streak and has five PP points during this run.

Not to be outdone are Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Nate Mac has seven points in his first four games since returning to the lineup while Makar has 14 points in his last nine. With a pair of replacement-level goalies in net, we could see both teams rack up the points Wednesday at MSG.

Over their last 10 games, the Avalanche are seeing an average of 8.60 total goals scored in their games which is by far the highest amount in the league. The Rangers have played some poor offenses over their last 10 games (CHI x2, PHI, NYI, SJ, NYI and MON) and had Shesterkin between the pipes for most of those games. Their 5.40 total combined goals per game is a little misleading.

The Colorado PK is one of the worst in the league of late and both the Avs (No. 1) and Rangers (No. 11) draw penalties at a high rate. With questionable goaltending and two top-heavy offenses that can both score on the PP, we are hammering the Over 6 -120 and that’s not a term we use very often.

Prediction: Over 6 (-115)

Best bet

The Avalanche are 7-2-1 O/U in their last 10 games and their 15-5-2 O/U mark on the season is the best Over rate in hockey. They sport the best offense in hockey, an elite PP, are weak in net and allow 3.45 goals per game which is a Bottom-6 mark. Only five teams scored more goals per game than the Avs allow per match — one of them being Colorado. 

This may be one of our favorite Over bets of the season. We are getting a great number (6 -115) in a game that will feature sub-par goaltending and two of the hottest offenses in hockey. There are a ton of markets to look into here as both teams’ power-play point markets are great plus-money plays and both teams to score three goals is another market that we like here. 

Ultimately, the Over 6 is our best play here and think a stack with other goal-oriented plays is a great stack opportunity.

Pick: Over 6 (-115)

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