Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/05/2026

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Venue:  Ball Arena, Denver, CO

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Wild +164, Avalanche -198; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Wild +165, Avalanche -200; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Wild +165, Avalanche -200; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Minnesota Wild:  46-24-12 (3rd place, Central Division)

Colorado Avalanche:  55-16-11 (1st place, Central Division)

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Minnesota Wild:  5-4-1 last 10

Colorado Avalanche:  9-0-1 last 10

The Wild are entering the playoffs with 104 points, a 46-24-12 record overall, and they were 23-14-4 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Colorado Avalanche in their last game, losing that one on the road 9-6. Quinn Hughes, Marcus Foligno, Marcus Johansson, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Quinn Hughes led the team in assists with 2 while Ryan Hartman led the team in shots on net in that game with 7. Jesper Wallstedt was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 8 goals on 42 shots with 34 saves and a .810 save percentage. Their offense has scored 272 goals this season averaging 3.3 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 240 goals against them allowing 2.9 goals per game.

The Avalanche are entering the playoffs with 121 points, a 55-16-11 record overall, and they were 26-9-6 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Minnesota Wild in their last game, winning that one at home 9-6. Cale Makar led the team in goals scored with 2 while Devon Toews, Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen, Sam Malinski, Jack Drury, Nazem Kadri, and Nick Blankenburg each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Devon Toews and Martin Nečas each led the team in assists with 3 while Nazem Kadri led the team in shots on net in that game with 8. Scott Wedgewood was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 6 goals on 36 shots with 30 saves and a .833 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 302 goals this season averaging 3.7 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 203 goals against them allowing 2.5 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Avalanche listed as a big favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Avalanche have looked great in their games this season with their 55-16-11 record overall which had them right at the top of their division in the West with the best record in the entire NHL. They have looked great on home ice too with their 26-9-6 home record this season. Meanwhile, the Wild have looked really good in their games this season with their 46-24-12 record overall which had them right in the top half of their division in the West. They have been a good road team too with their 23-14-4 road record this year. This is game 2 of a 7-game series between the 1st seeded Avalanche and the 3rd seeded Wild from the Central Division for the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs. The Avalanche are entering this game with a 1-0 series lead after winning game 1 by a score of 9-6. The Wild pulled off a nice upset over the Stars in the last round, kicking the Stars out in 6 games, but they ran into a wall to start this series. Their offense was rolling as they were putting pucks in the net, but they couldn't keep any out of their own. The Wild are off a 9-6 loss now and giving up that many goals is going to take a toll on them. The Avalanche didn't look any better on the defensive end, but they were able to maintain a lead throughout the game and were never really trailing. They are also off a sweep of the Kings in the 1st round and they have been the best team in the NHL all season. They are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games as they were hot entering the playoffs and they have been rolling now with 8 wins in a row. They had a really slow start to the playoffs in the 1st round with their first 2 games being lower in score, the defense really shining while the offense was struggling, but now their offense is humming again in the last 2 games and the Wild are going to have trouble slowing them down. The Avalanche are starting to round into the team that they were for most of the regular season and they are going to bring their best effort again to stay perfect in these playoffs. The best way to place a bet here is on the Avalanche to win this game and on the puckline. 

Wild Avalanche Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Tuesday, May 5, 2026 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Avalanche 6 Wild 3.

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Minnesota Wild: 75-73 (+7.9 units) on the moneyline against explosive offensive teams - scoring 3+ goals/game. 26-22 (+6.4 units) on the moneyline against good starting goalies - saving 91.5% of shots against or more. 26-21 (+8.7 units) on the moneyline against good defensive teams - opponents average 26.5 shots on goal or less. 9-3 OVER after scoring 6 goals or more in their previous game.

Colorado Avalanche: 102-65 (-8.9 units) on the moneyline off a win in their previous game. 69-59 (-9.1 units) on the moneyline when playing against a team with a winning record. 111-75 (-7.4 units) on the moneyline against excellent power play teams- scoring on over 17.5% of their chances. 13-7 OVER after allowing 6 goals or more.

Minnesota Wild:  J. Eriksson Ek (C) Day To Day - Undisclosed. J. Brodin (D) Out - Lower Body.

Colorado Avalanche:  J. Kiviranta (LW) Day To Day - Undisclosed. J. Manson (D) Day To Day - Upper-body.

“Listen, the game was helter-skelter. We lost the game. There’s certain areas we got to clean up and be ready to clean up. If you lose a game, you’ve got to take the lessons out of it, move on. If you win a game, you’ve got to take the lessons out of it and continue to move on. That’s what playoff hockey is." - John Hynes after his team’s loss against the Avalanche in the 1st game of this series on Sunday.

“You got to give him a lot of credit, right? Comes back, not feeling great after the injury in the first, gets sorted out and taken care of and comes back and has a great finish to the game. Took him a little while to get engaged again, maybe tentative, and then he was like, ‘I can do this,’ and he played great and makes a couple of huge plays." - Jared Bednar after his team’s win against the Wild in game 1 of this series on Sunday. 

LW Kirill Kaprizov

C Ryan Hartman

RW Mats Zuccarello

LD Quinn Hughes

RD Brock Faber

G Jesper Wallstedt

LW Artturi Lehkonen

C Nathan MacKinnon

RW Martin Necas

LD Devon Toews

RD Cale Makar

G Scott Wedgewood

Points: Kirill Kaprizov (89)

Goals: Kirill Kaprizov (45)

Assists: Quinn Hughes (48)

GAA: Jesper Wallstedt (2.61)

Points: Nathan MacKinnon (127)

Goals: Nathan MacKinnon (53)

Assists: Nathan MacKinnon (74)

GAA: Scott Wedgewood (2.02)

Coaches:

Minnesota Wild: John Hynes (3rd season)

Colorado Avalanche: Jared Bednar (10th season)