Ice Hockey | Friday, January 20, 2023 1:37 PM

Vancouver Canucks vs Colorado Avalanche Best Bet: AVS Gaining Steam

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US Sports Expert

Vancouver Canucks vs Colorado Avalanche Best Bet: Friday, January 20th

The Colorado Avalanche are gaining steam riding a 3-game win streak into the battle with the Vancouver canucks on Friday night. On the other hand, the Canucks have found one win over the last 7 outings and the last thing they need is a hot Avs team in town.

Our resident pucks pundit Ej Garr is going back to an old friend for this tip, as a team total hits the board to get the weekend started early.

In this article:

Vancouver Canucks vs Colorado Avalanche Preview

January 21, 03:00 (UK time)

Despite still being outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference table, the Avalanche are riding a 3-game win streak into Vancouver. Of course, they had to fall a goal short on me on Wednesday night to cost me a tip, but when it’s time to rebound I know how to answer the bell.

So, I am returning to an old well I haven’t used for a while and offering the Avalanche team total in this spot. Pinnacle is showing 1.85 for the Avs team total of 3.5, and one thing Vancouver is struggling with right now is keeping pucks out of their own net.

Having lost 6 of their last 7 games, Vancouver has surrendered 29 goals over that span, and the Lightning found a handful against them on Wednesday night. The Canucks are only 10 points from being in the Pacific Division basement, although ironically, the Avalanche lost the two meetings with Vancouver this campaign.

Back in November, Vancouver plowed into Denver and handed the Avs a 4 – 3 loss, and on January 5 the Canucks again took down Colorado, 4 – 2. Now that might give those Nuckleheads a little confidence coming into this game, but I don’t see them playing with a lick of inspiration lately. Tampa was up 4 – 0 on the Nucks before the fans even took their seats on Wednesday night, and I just cannot see how they can slow down the Avalanche enough to stop them from doing something similar.

Hell, I would love to see Colorado just grab all 4 goals for us nice and early, but it’s never as easy as we want it to be, right? They let me down a bit despite winning 4 – 1 against Calgary on Wednesday, but they still found 4 goals along the way. Nate MacKinnon is riding a 6-game point streak after dishing out a pair of dimes in the win over Calgary on Wednesday. He also has a +/- of 14 over that span and he and his linemates are all finding success of late.