In their final head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings face off at Little Caesars Arena. Fox Sports Detroit will showcase this East-West matchup, and the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, March 2.
Colorado Avalanche at Detroit Red Wings Odds
Colorado (-315) is currently favored over Detroit (+260), and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -125 for the over and +105 for the under.
Colorado is 39-25 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 6.5 units this year. Through 64 regular season matches, 33 of its games have gone under the total, while 29 have gone over and just two have pushed. The Avs are 22-11 SU as the road team in 2019-20.
Colorado has converted on 18.6 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 17th out of 31 teams, and it’s successfully killed off 80.0 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Colorado has been called for penalties 3.6 times per game this season, and 2.8 per game over its past ten matchups. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 5.6 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .916 save percentage and 27.1 saves per game, Philipp Grubauer (19-17-4) has been the best option in goal for Colorado this year. If it decides to rest him, however, head coach Jared Bednar could roll with Pavel Francouz (20-9-3), who has a .929 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average this year.
The visiting Avalanche will be led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. MacKinnon has 85 points via 33 goals and 52 assists, and has recorded two or more points 26 times. Makar has 12 goals and 35 assists to his credit (and has notched a point in 34 games).
On the other side of the ice, Detroit is 15-52 straight up (SU) and has lost 26.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. 32 of its contests have gone under the total, while 27 have gone over and just eight have pushed. It’s 10-23 SU at home this year.
Detroit has converted on just 14.9 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that’s ranked 30th in the NHL. Its penalty kill is also ranked 30th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 74.6 percent of all penalties.
Detroit skaters have been penalized 3.6 times per game this season, and 4.4 per game over their past five contests. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays 8.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jonathan Bernier (26.3 saves per game) has been the primary netminder in goal for Detroit. Bernier has 13 wins, 29 losses, and three overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a poor .907 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average this year.
Dylan Larkin (18 goals, 30 assists) will pace the attack for the Red Wings.
Colorado Avalanche at Detroit Red Wings Betting Predictions
NHL Prediction: SU Winner – Red Wings, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Trends
Each of Colorado’s last five games has gone under the total.
Power plays and penalty kills could prove to be critical in this matchup. The Avalanche are 22-10 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 30-12 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Red Wings are 6-15 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 10-36 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Detroit is 2-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while Colorado is 1-1 in shootouts.
Detroit skaters have forced 4.0 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a slight drop from its season average of 4.3 takeaways per game (ranked 32nd in the NHL).
Colorado has allowed 2.7 goals per game overall this season, but is allowing only 1.3 per match up over their six-game winning streak.
Colorado skaters have created 6.4 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 8.1 takeaways per game (ranked ninth overall).
