NHL Best Bet: Wednesday, April 13th

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are around the corner as we only have a couple of weeks remaining in the regular season. We’ve brought in our U.S Sports expert Ej Garr to remind everyone why hockey is the coolest sport on Earth to bet on! Today, the offer comes from the game between Colorado and Los Angeles as the high-flying Avs look to extend their lead in the Western Conference standings.

NHL Best Bet: Wednesday, April 13th

• Colorado vs. Los Angeles: Colorado -1 (AH)

Odds as of 10 am April 12th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

Colorado Avalanche vs LA Kings Best Bet

April 14, 02:30 UK time

The Colorado Avalanche is skating away with the Western Conference-best record and the Presidents’ Trophy is now in sight as they battle for home ice throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Avs welcome the Kings to Denver as heavy home favourites and they are expected to extend their win streak to 7 games whilst also stretching their win streak over the Kings to 9 games.

Colorado has enjoyed a few days off having not played since last Saturday afternoon and that is certainly a good thing to help prepare for the final stretch of the regular season. Colorado and Florida are neck-and-neck in the race for the best record overall in the NHL although the Avalanche is well in front of the rest of the Western Conference standings.

Colorado has amassed an impressive 275 goals to lead the Western Conference in scoring and they are also one of only two teams in the conference to have not allowed 200 goals yet. Only the Flames have had fewer goals scored against them in the conference and Calgary might be the only team that has a realistic chance of overtaking Colorado’s top spot.

Mikko Rantanen is just two goals shy of tying his personal best record of 37 tallies which he did in the 2018/19 campaign. Rantanen has been a 20-goal scorer in each of the last 6 seasons for the Avalanche and his 51 helpers contribute nicely to his points total. The Avs have 6 players that have scored at least 20 goals and Valeri Nichushkin needs just one score to make it 7 players to reach the mark.

Unfortunately, Gabe Landeskog, who is a 30-goal scorer and is putting together another solid campaign, had knee surgery on Monday and he is possibly going to be out for the rest of the regular season. The knee has been an issue for the Av’s Captain all season so instead of battling through it he decided to go under the knife so he can be fit for the post-season.

The Kings are battling for the last playoff position in the Western Conference but they are doing all that they can to let that slip away. Los Angeles has lost their last 3 games and 5 of their last 6 outings while having lost both of their meetings with the Avs this season, 3 – 0 and 4 – 1. 

Things just got a lot tougher for the Kings to capture a post-season berth as defenseman Drew Doughty also had surgery on Monday to repair his wrist although he has been out since March 7 with an upper-body issue. He will miss the remainder of the season but is expected to make it back in time for next year’s opening day. That makes 4 of the Kings’ top 6 defensemen that have gone down to injuries during the time of year when the defence is of the utmost importance and every point is crucial.  

As I see the shape of these two teams right now, even without Landeskog in the lineup the Avs should be able to cruise to a home win. Instead of going near the high vig regarding the Moneyline, I am suggesting the -1 handicap at a more reasonable 1.83.

• Selection: Colorado -1 Handicap
• Best odds: 1.81 (1xBet)
• Stakes: 4/10

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