Kraken vs. Avalanche Prediction and Pick (1/10/2022)
Kraken vs. Avalanche Prediction and Pick (1/10/2022)
The Jets and Avalanche play tonight in Ball Arena.
The Avalanche enter this game 21-8-2 (3rd in the Central Division) and look to continue to climb the standings with their games in hand. The Avalanche are the hottest team in the NHL— the Avs are winners of 4 straight and 9-1 in their L10. They are coming off a wild come-from-behind 5-4 win against the Maple Leafs after going down 3-1 in the 1P.
The Kraken enter this game 10-19-4 (Last in the Pacific Division) and with only 24 points, 3rd worst in the entire league. The Kraken are losers of 5 straight and 2-8 in their L10 games. In their last appearance, the Kraken lost 5-2 to the Canucks.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche have been on absolute fire offensively and are posting a league-high 4.32 GPG. The offense has never been the question for the Avalanche. MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Landeskog (out tonight w/ COVID protocols) are arguably the best top line in the entire league. To win the Cup, the Avalanche will have to tighten up their defense, which currently gives up a league 11th-worst 3.36 GAA and have conceded an average of 3 GAA over their L10. Darcy Kuemper was pulled against the Maple Leafs and Pavel Francouz will be in net. Francouz has a middle-of-the-pack -0.1 GSAx and a GAA of 2.86 on the season.
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken have been a disaster and have fallen way short of most people’s expectations so far. The Kraken are the 3rd worst team defensively, posting a 3.67 GAA while giving up the 3rd fewest SH/g at 29.03. As you can imagine from those numbers, the main reason for this is goaltending. The Kraken got 2 big names in their expansion draft— Phillip Grubauer and Chris Driedger—both of whom have combined for a .865 SVP (worst in NHL) and a 3.36 GAA (5th worst). Grubauer will get the nod tonight. Grubauer has been arguably the worst goalie in the NHL so far, posting a horrific -22.8 GSAx. This is a nightmare against an Avalanche team that is the highest scoring offense in the NHL and looking to prove a point against its former goalie.
Kraken vs. Avalanche Pick
The Avalanche are on an absolute tear offensively but give up plenty of chances on the backend and have had shaky goaltending. This is the #1 offense against the 3rd worst defense with the worst goalie in the league (measured by GSAx). On their 5 game losing streak, the Kraken are conceding 4.6 Goals on average. The Kraken offense has been decent at times, and if they can get 2 in tonight, this one should easily hit the over.
Pick: Kraken / Avalanche Alt O6 (-140) 5U [Maxplay]