The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars play Game 1 of their Western Conference Semi-Finals matchup on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Puck drop is at 9:30 pm ET, with ESPN carrying the broadcast.
The Stars, who eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games in the first round, are slight -125 favorites at home. The Avalanche, who knocked off the Winnipeg Jets in five games, come in as +106 underdogs. The over/under for the game is set at 6.5 goals.
Here s our Avs vs Stars prediction for Tuesday night, along with betting odds and player prop picks.
Avalanche vs Stars Prediction
Both teams are coming off impressive first-round victories, but in very different ways. The Avalanche dominated the Jets, outscoring them 28-14 over the five-game series. Colorado s offense was firing on all cylinders, led by Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar, who each tallied two goals and seven assists.
The Avalanche also got significant contributions from depth players like Valeri Nichushkin (seven goals) and Artturi Lehkonen (five goals).
The Stars, on the other hand, had to battle back from a 2-0 series deficit against the Golden Knights. Dallas leaned on their strong defensive play and goaltending from Jake Oettinger to win four of the next five games. Oettinger posted an impressive 1.95 GAA and a .925 save percentage in the series.
Jake Oettinger celebrates his second career Game 7 victory! 🦦
Sportsnet (@Sportsnet)
In the regular season, the Avalanche won three of the four meetings between these two teams, but the Stars claimed the top seed in the West with 113 points, six more than Colorado.
Given the offensive firepower on both rosters, this series has the potential to be relatively high-scoring. However, with Oettinger s strong goaltending and the Stars defensive shutdown ability, we predict Game 1 to be a tighter-checking affair as both teams look to establish their game plan.
Game 1 Picks:
Stars ML (-125)
Under 6.5 (-115)
Avalanche vs Stars Odds
