Blues vs. Avalanche Game 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs Odds and Preview – May 17th, 2022

By Carlos Chacon • May 17, 2022

The St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche last faced each other in the playoffs just last season, with the Colorado sweeping St. Louis in the very first round. However, the Avs have yet to reach the Conference Finals stage in each of their last three postseason trips. Meanwhile, the Blues are back in the second round for the first time since their Stanley Cup-winning run in 2018-19.

Nitrobetting is ready to dish out some slick assists to get bets into the back of the net. This time, let’s break down the upcoming Game 1 West Division Final matchup between the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche, along with the latest NHL odds and information about the teams and players involved.

Blues vs. Avalanche Game 1 Information

When: Tuesday, May 17, 2022, 9:30 PM ET
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
TV: TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS
Radio: NewsRadio 1120 KMOX (Blues) // Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM (Avalanche)
Live Stream: NHL Live
NHL Betting Odds: Blues (+179) / Avalanche (-208)

Why Bet on the St. Louis Blues?

The St. Louis Blues wants nothing more than to avenge their sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche last season. They certainly appear to be in better form this year as seen in their 4-2 series win over the Minnesota Wild. This marks the fourth time that St. Louis is in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2016.

The Blues have scored an average of 4.75 points across their four wins over the Wild and with five goals apiece in each of the last three. David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly have scored five goals apiece, and the same could be said about long-time franchise cornerstone Vladimir Tarasenko. However, it’s really been goalies Jordan Bennington and Ville Husso who’ve been the real standouts for the team.

This postseason, Binnington ranks third amongst all netminders with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage; albeit staring in just Games 4, 5, and 6. Husso played well in relief of Binnington in the first three games against Minnesota as well, giving St. Louis a ton of flexibility in front of their net for the series against a potent Colorado offense.

Why Bet on the Colorado Avalanche?

It’s been two decades since the Colorado Avalanche have made the Conference Finals even though it feels as if they’ve been strong contenders for the Stanley Cup over the past few years. Well, the team is back in the second round after a swift four-game sweep of the Nashville Predators in the first round and improving its record in the opening round to 16-2 since the 2018-19 campaign.

The Avalanche scored five or more goals in three of their four wins over the Predators. Nathan MacKinnon has five goals this postseason thus far, while Cale Makar is tied for the fourth-most points in the playoffs with 10 (three goals, seven assists). Standout defenseman Devin Toews also joins Makar as a top-five player in terms of plus-minus, with Toews ranking fourth at plus-52 and Makar in fifth at plus-48 during the regular season.

The best thing about the Avs’ sweep of the Preds is that the former has had more time to rest in preparation for the next round. Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper, who has a goals-against average of 1.63 (second-overall this postseason) and a .934 save percentage (fifth), suffered an eye injury in Game 3. Keumper’s gotten over a full week’s time to heal and should be ready to go for the series opener Tuesday.

Blues vs. Avalanche Betting Trends

The Blues are 9-1 in the last 11 road games.
The Blues went 2-1 against the Avs this regular season, with Colorado having a mere 12-11 edge in goals scored through these three meetings.
The totals went over in five of St. Louis’ last six games on the road.
The Avalanche are 9-2 over the last 11 home games.
The Avs are just 5-4 in the last nine games as favorites to win.
The totals went over in three of Colorado’s last four homestands.

Blues vs. Avalanche Expert Betting Predictions

Although the Blues are considered heavy underdogs in this series, it’s worth mentioning that they hung tough in their three regular-season meetings against the Blues. St. Louis also has a balanced attack that could give Colorado’s defense enough of a struggle to steal Game 1 on the road this Tuesday night. The Avs have not stepped on the ice since May 9 as well, which may be too much downtime compared to the Blues’ four days of rest.

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*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.