Nashville Predators Vs. Colorado Avalanche (5/3/22) Betting Odds, Prediction, Line Combination, Starting Goalies

By Scott Steinberg | May 03, 2022, 5:31am

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The Nashville Predators enter the playoffs as the second Wild Card, finishing the regular season at 45-30-7 with 97 points. Nashville had a goal differential of +14 against their opponents this season. The Predators are +4500 to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history; they won the Western Conference in 2016-17 but lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Colorado Avalanche won the Central Division this season with a record of 56-19-7 with 119 points, tops in the Western Conference. They come into the playoffs with a home record of 32-5-4 in the 2021-22 season. Colorado is the favorite to win the 2021-22 Stanley Cup at +330; the Avalanche have won two titles since they moved to Colorado from Quebec in 1995.

Nashville Predators Vs. Colorado Avalanche Betting Odds

Nashville is 1-4 in their last five games. The Predators are 13-7 in their last 20 games against the Avalanche. Nashville is 11-3 in their last 14 games when playing on the road against Colorado. The Predators are listed at +450 to win the series. The Avalanche are 1-6 in their last seven games. Colorado is 7-2 in their last nine games at home. The Avalanche are 3-11 in their last 14 games when playing at home against the Predators. Colorado is listed at -650 to win the first round series vs. Nashville.

Nashville Predators Analysis

Matt Duchene, a former Avalanche center was the Predators second leading scorer with 86 points (43 goals and 43 points). He was a +6 in 2021, scoring a team leading 16 power play goals. Duchene was tied for second on the club in game winning goals with six. In 28 career playoff games he has scored 21 points. Filip Forsberg is probably the most dynamic player in Nashville’s lineup. This season he scored 84 points (42 goals and 42 assists) in 69 games. Forsberg led the Predators in game winning goals this year with eight and scored 10 goals on the power play. Mikael Granlund finished the 2021-22 season second on the team in assists with 53; he totaled 64 points. On the power play he scored 28 points (three goals and 25 assists) this campaign. In 55 career playoff games he’s scored 29 points (11 goals and 18 assists).

Roman Josi was the leading scorer among defensemen (and the Predators) this season with 96 points; leading with 73 assists. The Nashville captain, had 37 points overall on the power play in 2021-22, including 11 goals. In his 11^th season, he concluded the regular season a +13 while averaging 25:33 of ice time per game. Mattias Ekholm was a +14 in 76 games this season. He totaled 31 points on the year (six goals and 25 assists). The blueliner blocked 96 shots and delivered 79 hits in 2021-22.

Juuse Saros was 38-25-3 with a .918 save percentage and a GAA of 2.64 this season is out for the first two games of the series due to a lower body injury. Either David Rittch, 6-3-4 with a 3.57 GAA in 2021-22 or Connor Ingram, who’s started three games with .879 save percentage this year will be in net for the Predators.

Colorado Avalanche Analysis

Mikko Rantanen led the Avalanche in scoring this season with 92 points (36 goals and 56 assists) while being an impressive +35. He had a team leading 16 power play goals and scored two game winning goals and averaged 20:58 of ice per game this campaign. He’s +1500 to win the Conn Smythe Award. Nathan MacKinnon had 88 points (32 goals and 56 asssists) in 65 games this year while missing time throughout the season due to injury. A +22 on the year, he scored 27 points on the power play (seven goals and 20 assist) along with five game winning goals. In 50 career postseason games he 69 points (28 goals and 41 assists). Going into the playoffs he’s the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Nazem Kadri concluded his 13^th season in the NHL with the highest single scoring output of his career with 87 points (28 goals and 59 assists). In 2021-22 he was a +13 and was tied for the team lead in game winning goals with six while also tallying eight goals on the power play. Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche captain who’s been out since March 10 due to knee surgery has been cleared and is expected to be in the lineup to begin the playoffs. Despite playing 51 games, he finished the season third on the Avalanche in goals with 30.

Cale Makar was the second leading scorer among defensemen this season with 86 points; leading with 28 goals. In his third season, he concluded the regular season second in the NHL in plus/minus at +48 and averaged 25:40 of ice time per game. Makar is listed at +2000 to win the 2021-22 Conn Smythe Award. Devon Toews had 57 points this year (13 goals and 44 assists). In his second season with Colorado, he was tops in the NHL in plus/minus at +52 and averaged 25:20 of ice time per game.

Darcy Kuemper has started 57 games for the Avalanche this year. He’s 37-12-4 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA. In his first season with Colorado, he finished the regular season tied for fourth in the league in shutouts with five. Entering the postseason, Kuemper is +2500 to win the Conn Smythe Award. If Colorado is going to win the Stanley Cup, the Avalanche goalies will be key, and I like the value of going with him as the playoff MVP.

Nashville Predators Vs. Colorado Avalanche Picks & Prediction

Nashville is scoring 3.2 goals per game, ranking them 12^th in the NHL. On the defensive side, the Predators are allowing three goals per game which is 17^th in the NHL. Nashville is 20-16-5 on the road in 2021-22. The Avalanche are scoring 3.8 goals per game, fourth in the league. Defensively Colorado is allowing 2.8 goals per game, ranked ninth overall. The Avalanche is 52-22-7 as the favorite this season. I like Colorado to win game one by over 1.5 goals and the teams to combine for under 6.5 goals; Avalanche go up in the series 1-0, winning the game 5-1.

Nashville Predators Vs. Colorado Avalanche Starting Goalies & Line Combination

Scott Steinberg

Scott has been a sports fan since he received a New York Mets jacket as a toddler. He’s been playing fantasy baseball and football for over 20 years, dating back to Frank Thomas being one of his first fantasy baseball picks. As a professional, he has covered the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, and NCAAB and is looked to as the go-to guy for fantasy sports amongst family, friends, and co-workers.