Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Colorado Avalanche Odds, Picks, and Predictions (4/2/22)
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On the road the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime on Thursday evening. Star center, Evgeni Malkin scored at 3:57 of overtime to lift the Penguins to the victory. Rickard Rakell scored two goals and Casey DeSmith made 28 saves: getting his first win since the end of February for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 41-18-10 with 92 points, third in the Metropolitan Division. The Colorado Avalanche at home beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Thursday night. Mikko Rantanen broke the tie between the Avalanche and Sharks in the third period, lifting Colorado to their seventh win in their last nine contests. The Avalanche are 48-14-6 with 102 points, first in the Central Division.
Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Colorado Avalanche Betting Odds
Pittsburgh is 5-1 in their last six Saturday games. Under is 7-1-2 in the Penguins last 10 games following a win. Over is 4-1 in Pittsburgh’s last five contests overall. The Penguins are +1600 to hoist the Stanley Cup this season; overall the franchise has won five Stanley Cup titles. The home team is 4-1 in the last five meetings between Colorado and Pittsburgh. The Avalanche are 47-9 in their last 56 home games. Over is 6-1-1 in Colorado’s last eight meetings vs. Eastern Conference opponents. Under is 4-0 in the Avalanche’s last four games following a win. Colorado is the favorite to win the 2021-22 Stanley Cup at +350; the Avalanche have won two titles since they moved to Colorado from Quebec in 1995.
Pittsburgh Penguins Odds
Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby leads team in scoring with 71 points in 57 games (25 goals and 46 assists). In his last five games, Crosby has seven points (three goals and four assists). The two-time Hart Trophy winner is a +13 and averaging 19:50 of ice-time per game. Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins in goals with 32 and second in points with 66. He has 20 points on the power play in 2021-22. He’s a +8 and averaging 19:53 of ice time per game. Bryan Rust has 56 points in 2021-22 (22 goals and 34 assists). He’s a +12 and averaging 18:54 of ice time per game for Pittsburgh. Evan Rodrigues has 40 points in 69 games this campaign (17 goals and 23 assists). He’s a +3 and leads the team in power play goals with nine. Evgeni Malkin has played in 32 games after missing most of the first half of the season (knee surgery). The 2011-12 Hart Trophy winner has 35 points (17 goals and 18 assists) in his limited time on the ice this year. Malkin has five game winning goals and 19 points on the power play; if he had played a full season, he would have easily been in the top five in scoring this year.
Kris Letang is the team’s third leading scorer with 59 points (seven goals and 52 assists). The two-time Stanley Cup winner is second on the team in plus/minus at +22 while logging the most ice time per game by a Pittsburgh defenseman at 25:42. In his 16th season, he’s blocked 110 shots and has been physical delivering 144 hits. Mike Matheson has scored nine goals on the year with five of those being game winners. He’s a +7 and averaging 18:38 of ice time per game. John Marino has played in 69 games and scored 24 points on the year. The third year blueliner has blocked 69 shots and registered 65 hits. Brian Dumoulin has 17 points this season and leads the club in plus/minus at +23. Dumoulin has blocked a team high 120 shots this campaign and averaging 21:58 of ice time per game.
Tristan Jarry has started 51 games between the pipes for the Penguins this season. He’s 33-14-6 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.33 GAA. He also has four shutouts this season: tied for fourth in the NHL. Casey DeSmith has appeared in 19 games this campaign. The Pittsburgh backup goalie is 7-4-4 in 2021-22 with a 2.95 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Colorado Avalanche Odds
Nazem Kadri leads the Avalanche in scoring with 83 points (26 goals and 57 assists). He’s averaging 19:13 of ice time per game and is a +18 on the season. Kadri leads Colorado in game winning goals with six in 2021-22 and has tallied eight power play goals on the campaign. Due to an undisclosed injury suffered on Thursday, Kadri is questionable for the game against the Penguins. Mikko Rantanen is second on the Avalanche with 80 points (34 goals and 46 assists). On the power play the seventh-year winger leads the team with 16 goals and an impressive 32 points with the man advantage. He’s third on the team in plus/minus at +32 and averaging 20:58 of ice time per game. Nathan MacKinnon has 70 points in 52 games in 2021-22; additionally, he has 24 points on the power play (six goals and 18 assists). On the season, MacKinnon is a +15 while averaging 21:04 of ice time per contest. Andre Burakovsky has scored 48 points on the season (19 goals and 29 assists). He’s scored four game winning goals and four power play goals in 2021-22. Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche captain is second on the team in goals with 30. He’s out indefinitely due to a knee injury; his leadership and skill will be missed by the Avalanche.
Cale Makar is the favorite to win the Norris Trophy at -240 and +5000 to win the Hart Trophy. In his third season, he’s second among all NHL defensemen in points with 75 and leads all blueliners with 24 goals. He’s blocked 88 shots and has delivered 77 hits in 2021-22. He’s tied for second on the team in game winning goals with five and second on the Avalanche in plus/minus at +39. Devon Toews has 49 points this year (12 goals and 37 assists). In his second season with Colorado, he’s tied for second in the NHL in plus/minus at +46. Toews is averaging 25:32 of ice time per game. Erik Johnson has played in 68 games in 2021-22. He leads the Avalanche in blocked shots with 115 and hits with 144. Offensively, he’s chipped in 21 points (six goals and 15 assists) on the year. Jack Johnson has played in 64 games and is a +7 in 2021-22. The 16- year veteran has registered 78 hits and blocked 63 shots.
Darcy Kuemper has started 47 games for the Avalanche this year. He’s 31-9-3 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.37 GAA. In his first season with Colorado, he’s third in the league in shutouts with five this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Colorado Avalanche Picks & Prediction
Pittsburgh is scoring 3.3 goals per game, ranking them ninth in the NHL and attempting 34.5 shots per game, seventh overall. In their lineup, the road team Penguins have nine players that have scored at least 11 goals this season. On the defensive side, the Penguins are allowing 2.6 goals per game which is fourth in the NHL and yielding 30.4 shots a game, ninth overall. The Avalanche are scoring 3.8 goals per game, second in the league and taking 35.3 shots per game, fourth overall. The home team has eight players on their roster with at least 40 points and four skaters that have scored at least 70 points. Defensively Colorado is allowing 2.7 goals per game, ranked seventh overall and 31.4 shots per game, 15th in the league. The Avalanche are the best team in hockey having a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games. I see them winning this game over the Penguins with the clubs combining for under six goals.
