One of the NHL's budding rivalries will continue on Saturday night, with the Vegas Golden Knights playing the Avalanche in Colorado for a second straight game. The Avs dominated the previous matchup, with a four-goal second period leading Colorado to a 5-1 win, with all five goals unanswered.
Here are our best free Golden Knights vs. Avalanche NHL betting picks and predictions for Saturday, March 27, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Vegas Golden Knights at Colorado Avalanche betting preview
Injuries
Golden Knights: Max Pacioretty LW (Questionable), Alex Pietrangelo D (Out).
Avalanche: Matt Calvert LW (Out), Jacob MacDonald D (Questionable), Connor Timmins D (Out), Erik Johnson D (Out), Dennis Gilbert D (Out), Pavel Francouz G (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings. Find more NHL betting trends for Golden Knights vs. Avalanche.
NHL sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonColorado opened -172 Friday afternoon at FanDuel, peaked at -178 Friday evening and is at -174 as of 2 p.m. ET today. Moneyline ticket count is beyond 3/1 on the Avalanche, and moneyline cash is running 2/1 on the Avs. The total opened at 5.5 (Under -112) and is now 5.5 (Over -122), with tickets and money both running about 2/1 on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this gameMoneyline pick
Five games between these two teams, including four within eight days in February, has helped to create some bad blood. Heightening the tension in these matchups is the fact that both Vegas and Colorado are cup contenders in 2021 and are currently separated by just one win in the West Division standings, level on 45 points. It's the Avs who have the head-to-head edge thus far, however, with a 3-2 record against the Golden Knights while outscoring them 11-9.
Though the Avalanche are far from being fully healthy, they have at least seen key cogs return to the lineup recently. With their deadly trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen skating together, along with sophomore phenom and Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar, partially healthy is plenty for this loaded Colorado team. At 8-1 over their last nine, the Avs are playing their best hockey of the season after a sloppy start due to injuries and a COVID-related break.
With Colorado playing excellent hockey and having just shellacked Vegas on Thursday, we like the Avs to pick up another win here.
PREDICTION: Avalanche (-173)
Over/Under pick
Despite these two teams oozing talent in attack, Thursday's blowout win for Colorado was the first Over between Vegas and the Avs this season. Even including that result, their matchups have produced an average of just four goals per game on the year. There's little reason to believe Thursday's Over will be the norm for these two moving forward. Playing their second game against one another in three nights, it should be a cagier game than the 5-1 result.
Colorado limits opponents to the fewest shots per game (25), while Vegas is fourth in the same mark (27.5). The Avs are expected to again turn to workhorse and Vezina candidate Philipp Grubauer, who is in the midst of a career-best season. Grubauer's save percentage of .931 is just .001 behind Andrei Vasilevskiy for the league's best mark, while his 1.69 goals against average is the best in the league. To boot, he has posted a league-high five shutouts, too.
Everything points toward the Under in this contest, and that's where we are going.
PREDICTION: Under 5.5 (-111)
Golden Knights vs Avalanche betting card
- Avalanche (-173)
- Under 5.5 (-111)
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