Seattle Kraken vs Colorado Avalanche Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/20/2023

Game Time: 9:30 pm ET, Thursday, April 20, 2023

Venue:  Ball Arena, Denver, CO

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Kraken +175, Avalanche -205; Over/Under:  6 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Kraken +170, Avalanche -200; Over/Under:  6 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Kraken +165, Avalanche -200; Over/Under:  6 goals

Seattle Kraken:  46-28-8 (4th place, Pacific Division)

Colorado Avalanche:  51-24-7 (1st place, Central Division)

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Seattle Kraken:  7-3-0 last 10

Colorado Avalanche:  7-2-1 last 10

The Kraken are entering this game finishing the regular season with 100 points, a 46-28-8 record overall, and they were 26-11-4 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off of a win against the Colorado Avalanche in their last game, winning that one on the road 3-1. Alexander Wennberg, Morgan Geekie, and Eeli Tolvanen each had 1 goal. Alexander Wennberg, Jamie Oleksiak, Justin Schultz, and Jaden Schwartz each led the team in assists with 1 while Eeli Tolvanen led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Philipp Grubauer was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 35 shots with 34 saves and a .971 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 289 goals this season averaging 3.5 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 256 goals against them allowing 3.1 goals per game.

The Avalanche are entering this game finishing the regular season with 109 points, a 51-24-7 record overall, and they were 22-13-6 in their home games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off of a loss against the Seattle Kraken in their last game, losing that one at home 3-1. Mikko Rantanen scored the only goal for them in that game. Bowen Byram and Nathan MacKinnon each led the team in assists with 1 while Nathan MacKinnon led the team in shots on net in that game with 7. Alexandar Georgiev was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 3 goals on 30 shots with 27 saves and a .900 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 280 goals this season averaging 3.4 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 226 goals against them allowing 2.8 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Avalanche listed as a huge favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. This is game 2 of a 7-game series between the Kraken and the Avalanche for the 1st round of the NHL Western Conference playoffs. The Kraken are leading the series 1-0 with a surprising 3-1 win in game 1 of the series but the Avalanche are still the defending Stanley Cup champions and they are going to bring their best effort to ensure they don't go down 2-0 going into Seattle. The Avalanche need to win this game and even up the series as the pressure has been put on them to win a road game now but they still have a really strong team that scores a lot of goals and their offense will have a much better night here after only scoring 1 goal in game 1. Grubauer had a big performance in that game against his old team to help them pull off that upset win, but he won't repeat his great performance as this strong Avalanche offense will find the net for some more goals here. The Avalanche were one of the best teams in the Western Conference during the regular season and they are still the defending Stanley Cup champions, they will play with a lot of pride here to tie up this series on home ice. The best way to place a bet here is on the Avalanche to win this game and on the puckline.

Kraken Avalanche Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Thursday, April 20, 2023 (9:30 pm ET start time) is Avalanche 6 Kraken 2.

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Seattle Kraken: 47-36 (+14.5 units) on the moneyline in all games. 26-13 (+19.2 units) on the moneyline in a road game where the total is 6 or more. 22-16 OVER after 1 or more consecutive unders. 9-5 OVER after playing a game where 4 or fewer total goals were scored.

Colorado Avalanche: 19-18 (-10.9 units) on the moneyline in a home game where the total is 6 or more. 6-12 (-11.2 units) on the moneyline after allowing 3 goals or more 2 straight games. 8-2 OVER revenging a loss where the team scored 1 or less goals. 25-18 OVER when trailing in a playoff series.

Seattle Kraken:  A. Burakovsky (LW) Out indefinitely - Lower Body. J. Hayden (C) out for season - Lower Body. J. Donskoi (RW) Out indefinitely - Concussion.

Colorado Avalanche:  A. Cogliano (C) Ques Thurs - Upper Body. G. Landeskog (LW) out for season - Knee. D. Helm (LW) Out indefinitely - Lower Body. 

“They can do whatever you want. Obviously it comes down to the belief in the group right here. Everyone is going to have an opinion about the way we play now, but the focus is always going to be on us. We have a belief in this group.” - Alex Wennberg after their win against the Avalanche in their game on Tuesday, game 1 of this series.

“Our whole team just wasn’t quite good enough. I thought we did some good things. They obviously did more good things." - Jared Bednar after his team’s loss against the Kraken in their game on Tuesday, game 1 of this series.

LW McCann, Jared

C Beniers, Matthew

RW Eberle, Jordan

LD Dunn, Vince

RD Larsson, Adam

G Grubauer, Philipp

LW Rodrigues, Evan

C MacKinnon, Nathan

RW Rantanen, Mikko

LD Toews, Devon

RD Makar, Cale

G Georgiev, Alexandar

Points: J. McCann (70)

Goals: J. McCann (40)

Assists: V. Dunn (50)

GAA: P. Grubauer (2.85)

Points: N. MacKinnon (111)

Goals: M. Rantanen (55)

Assists: N. MacKinnon (69)

GAA: A. Georgiev (2.53)

Coaches:

Seattle Kraken: Dave Hakstol (2nd season)

Colorado Avalanche: Jared Bednar (7th season)