Free Picks: Colorado Avalanche vs. Vegas Golden Knights

The West is stacked with great defensive teams. Colorado and Vegas are two squads that are elite defensively. With that being said, there are a number of reasons this game has the potential to see a ton of scoring. Colorado and Vegas’ recent history indicate that this contest will not shy away from either team lighting the lamp, despite being highly ranked defensively.

The entire hockey world is well versed in the defensive capabilities of Vegas and Colorado. Two of the top defensive teams in the league, the Knights and Avalanche are relentless on defense. While neither team is in the top rankings on offense, these two West Division teams have been stellar in stopping the opposition.

And for this game, I think we’re going to see the opposite.

Am I crazy? Maybe. But there is a method to my madness. First of all, the Avalanche are coming off an extended break thanks to COVID-19. The last time the Avs hit the ice was on the 2nd of February.  Twelve days later, expect the Avalanche to be rather sloppy on defense as they prepare for game action once again.

Extended breaks matter. The Avalanche opened the season by allowing 4 goals to the St. Louis Blues. Nearly two weeks of missed action will hurt the Avalanche on defense.

Over in Vegas, they are playing Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks. While the Sharks are not necessarily known for their goal-scoring abilities, the fact that the Knights are playing back-to-back is another potential hint into the future of this contest.

On the surface, one would suspect that this would be a low scoring affair. I understand that. As we know on BetPicks, I love high scoring games and while this contest looks like it could be a sweaty, defensive game, there is much more to this than statistics and rankings.

And with that being said, history AND statistics are both on our side. Yes, both teams are solid on defense, but head-to-head we have seen a number of high-scoring games. In their brief 9 game history, the two teams have combined to score more than 5 goals in 5 of those games. The current total for over/under is 4.5.

I think smashing the over has potential to be one of the best NHL bets you can make Sunday night. There are a variety of factors playing into this game that has me thinking this could be a high-scoring battle.

I will be watching this game closely. The Avalanche are good on defense but have spent days away from the rink. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights are playing on consecutive days, which is always beneficial to bettors that love the over.

And I love the over.

• Colorado ranks 3^rd in average score against.
• Colorado scores 3.45 goals per game.
• Vegas won Saturday night 3-1 against San Jose.
• The Golden Knights are 7-1-1 at home this season.