Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche Game Preview, Picks & Odds for Sunday, April 19, 2026

By Thom Cunningham | Apr 18, 2026, 4:55pm

Sunday’s NHL Playoff action begins with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Los Angeles Kings, a team that went through lots of changing to reach the postseason. They now get the odds-on favorite to hoist Lorde Stanley in the Avs. Let’s go through the betting numbers, odds, trends and data for this first round Game 1 matchup in Ball Arena.

Kings vs. Avalanche Betting Analysis

This isn’t a great matchup for the Kings on paper, losing four of five meetings to the Avs while also dropping their last eight to Colorado when playing as underdogs. The puck line isn’t much better for Los Angeles, failing to cover its last seven games against Colorado. The Avs have covered four of five against Los Angeles as the favorite, while the Kings also hold the league’s worst puck line record at 30-52 on the season.

The total leans Under, with both clubs combined O/U record this season sitting at 68-90-6. The Under has also hit for Colorado in nine straight games when playing during the daytime and coming off a win, but the O/U over the last five head-to-heads is split at 2-2-1. In the player prop market, Quinton Byfield has scored a goal in a remarkable six straight road games.

Kings vs. Avalanche Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

Best Bet: COL -1.5 (+105)
Score Prediction: COL 5, LAK 2

Kings vs. Avalanche Game Odds

Kings vs. Avalanche Game Information

Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026
Time: 3:10 p.m. ET
Network: TNT
Location: Denver, Colorado
Venue: Ball Arena – 6.5 goals per game; 18-21-2 O/U
Series Score: 0-0
Series Preview

Kings vs. Avalanche Betting Resources

Kings vs. Avalanche Key Players

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon – Season Stats: 53 goals, 74 assists, 57+
Martin Necas – Season Stats: 38 goals, 62 assists, +47
MacKenzie Blackwood – Season Stats: 23-10-2, 2.51 GAA, .904 SV%

Los Angeles Kings

Artemi Panarin – Season Stats: 28 goals, 56 assists, -7
Adrian Kempe – Season Stats: 36 goals, 37 assists, +14
Darcy Kuemper – Season Stats: 19-14-15, 2.78 GAA, .891 SV%

Thom Cunningham

Thom Cunningham is the Lineups.com News Editor and has been involved with sports media for almost two decades at Spectrum, VegasInsider.com, Oddschecker, VSiN and much more as a content producer - focused on the betting and gaming space over the last decade tracking insights, data analytics and covering various markets from the NFL to the Oscars.