The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars meet Thursday for Game 2 of their Western Conference 2nd round series. Puck drop from American Airlines Center is slated for 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Avalanche vs. Stars odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Series: Avalanche lead 1-0
Colorado took Tuesday’s series opener 4-3 in overtime. The Avs ceded a 3-0 1st-period lead to the Stars, battled back to tie the Game 3-3 early in the 3rd and win it with an OT goal by LW Miles Wood.
The Stars were shorthanded just twice in the opener, but a penalty-killing unit ranked 8th in the regular season was undone by 2 Colorado goals in those situations.
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Avalanche at Stars odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 11:11 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Avalanche +110 (bet $100 to win $110) | Stars -130 (bet $130 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Avalanche +1.5 (-250) | Stars -1.5 (+200)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: +100 | U: -120)
Avalanche at Stars projected goalies
Alexandar Georgiev (38-18-5, 3.02 GAA, .897 SV%) vs. Jake Oettinger (35-14-4, 2.72 GAA, .905 SV%)
Georgiev stopped 19 of 22 shots in Tuesday’s lid-lifter. He owns an .895 SV% over 6 Games in these playoffs and a .908 mark across 15 career playoff starts.
Oettinger stopped 22 of 26 pucks in Game 1, and he owns a .915 SV% in 8 playoff Games this spring. He owns a .917 SV% across 36 career playoff Games.
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Avalanche at Stars picks and predictions
Prediction
Avalanche 4, Stars 3
Moneyline
Colorado is 7-2-0 across its last 9 games vs. Dallas (regular season and playoffs), and the Avs have won 3 in a row on Dallas ice.
The Avalanche had the smoother trip through the 1st round, with the Stars going a full 7 games — with a lot of tied and 1-goal action — in their series win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Avs should have all the confidence in the world after going 2-for-2 on the power play and coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the opener. Colorado’s 5-on-5 analytics in these playoffs are top notch.
BACK COLORADO (+110).
Puck line/Against the spread
PASS: Too much juice to overcome.
Over/Under
The Over is 6-1 in the last 7 series meetings. In these playoffs, Colorado games have hit the Over 5 times in 6 games.
Five-on-five analytics point to Colorado having even more offense in the tank and Dallas’ defense being a bit too far out over its skis. Both sides have done credible work setting up high-danger chances in numbers. Plus, the Avs are 8 for 18 (44.4%) on the power play in the playoffs.
BET OVER 6.5 (+100).
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