The St. Louis Blues will be starting their backup goaltender on Monday as they trail the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in their Western Conference playoff series. The Avs are solid favorites on the NHL odds.
How to Bet Avalanche at Blues NHL Hockey Odds & TV Info
When: Monday, 9:30 PM ET
Where: Enterprise Center
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NHL Lines: Avalanche -160, Blues +145 (total 6.5 goals) | Bet Now
Why Bet on Colorado?
The Avalanche took a 2-1 series lead with Saturday’s 5-2 win in St. Louis. The news wasn’t all good as defenseman Samuel Girard will miss the rest of the postseason with a broken sternum. He suffered the injury Saturday after he was crushed into the boards by Ivan Barbashev. Girard had a goal and three points with 14 shots on goal in seven playoff contests.
The Avalanche played the rest of Saturday’s game with five defenseman, and Coach Jared Bednar’s top unit took a larger piece of the ice time, as a result. Cale Makar finished with 34 shifts and 28:49 time on the ice, and Devon Toews ended with 38 and 30:56.
"I didn’t love it seeing it live," Bednar said after the win. "He catches him in a bad spot, but I thought it was a legal check, to be honest with you."
Bednar said he had an idea of who would take Girard’s but didn’t say who. Jack Johnson, Kurtis MacDermid and Ryan Murray are the three defensemen who have been healthy scratches. Judging by games played, Johnson is the most likely of the trio to get the nod. The 35-year-old, who signed a professional tryout offer ahead of training camp and earned a roster spot, had a goal and eight assists in 74 games this season.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the winner at 17:15 of the second period on Saturday and added another marker to record his first career multi-goal game the playoffs. Lehkonen scored his fourth career winning goal in the postseason and first since Game 6 of the 2021 Stanley Cup semifinals, when he tallied in overtime to clinch the Montreal Canadiens’ first Final berth since 1993. Lehkonen, who was acquired by the Avalanche ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline, is one of four current Colorado players to appear in the Stanley Cup Final (also Andre Burakovsky, Andrew Cogliano & Darren Helm).
Gabriel Landeskog put the Avalanche up 4-2 late in the third period with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen drawing assists. Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen all factored on the same goal for the 14th time in the Stanley Cup playoffs, tied for the most by a trio of teammates in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history (w/ Peter Forsberg, Valeri Kamensky & Claude Lemieux).
Makar had an assist to record the 42nd playoff point of his NHL career, tying Adam Foote for third place on the franchise’s all-time list among defensemen. Makar (11 points) reclaimed sole possession of the NHL scoring lead among blueliners in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Colorado improved to 6-1 in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, including a perfect 3-0 record on the road. The Avalanche recorded a three-game postseason-opening road winning streak for the first time since 2006 – the only longer such runs by the franchise were in 1999 (7-0) and 2001 (4-0).
Darcy Kuemper stopped 29-of-31 attempts in Saturday’s win. He was particularly sharp in a scoreless third period which saw the Blues make multiple thwarted runs at tying the game trailing 3-2 on the scoreboard. Kuemper has now allowed more than two goals just once in six starts this postseason.
Why Bet on St. Louis?
St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington will miss the rest of this series because of an injury he suffered in Game 3. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren was recalled from the Blues’ AHL affiliate under emergency conditions on Sunday. Binnington left just 6:45 into the first period of Game 3 after Avalanche center Nazem Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen both crashed the net seeking a loose puck.
Backup Ville Husso, who started the postseason as the Blues’ No. 1 netminder, entered the game and gave up four goals on 23 shots in the 5-2 defeat. The Blues are hopeful Binnington can return if they advance to the Western Conference Final. Husso started the first round against the Minnesota Wild and played the first three games before being replaced by Binnington heading into Game 4. He made 37 saves in a 4-0 win in Game 1, his first Stanley Cup Playoff game, but the 27-year-old lost 6-2 in Game 2 and 5-1 in Game 3.
"Ville is very capable of playing good hockey and has all year and his confidence has only gotten better the amount of days he’s been in the NHL year-by-year and I’m sure he’s looking forward to the challenge," St. Louis center Brayden Schenn said. "We’re looking forward to seeing what Ville can do and when he’s in the net. We’re just as confident with ‘Binner’ there and just got to play hard in front of them.”
Colton Parayko (10-22—32 in 79 GP) became the fourth defenseman in franchise history to score 10 career playoff goals with the Blues, joining Al MacInnis (14-44—58 in 82 GP), Chris Pronger (10-41—51 in 85 GP) and Jeff Brown (10-28—38 in 42 GP).
Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and assist to extend his point streak to seven games. Only four players in franchise history have posted a longer run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Tony Currie (9 GP in 1981), Vladimir Tarasenko (8 GP in 2019), Brett Hull (8 GP in 1990) and Gary Sabourin (8 GP in 1969).
Top defenseman Torey Krug (lower body) missed a sixth straight game on Saturday. Krug still hasn’t been back at practice with the Blues, so he’s not expected Monday. He has three assists, seven shots, four blocks and one hit in three outings this postseason.
Game Trends
Avalanche are 37-16 in their last 53 after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game.
Avalanche are 36-17 in their last 53 games playing on 1 days rest.
Avalanche are 19-9 in their last 28 road games.
Blues are 8-3 in their last 11 home games.
Blues are 10-4 in their last 14 after allowing 5 goals or more in their previous game.
Blues are 17-7 in their last 24 overall.
Blues are 7-3 in their last 10 games as an underdog.
Expert Prediction
Avalanche 3, Blues 2 | Bet Colorado vs St. Louis Now
