Apr 7, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish (23) celebrates his goal scored against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn ImagesThe Colorado Avalanche are -135 moneyline favorites over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday Night Hockey
With nothing to left to play for, the Avalanche (48-29-4, 22-17-1 away) are giving their stars a night off when they face the Ducks (35-36-8, 21-17-2 home) on Sunday Night Hockey. Colorado is on the second night of a back-to-back, and I m betting that tired legs and a lack of firepower is going to be too much to overcome. Online sportsbooks disagree, pegging the Avalanche as road chalk in the NHL odds.
Puck drop is scheduled for 10pm PT / 7pm ET at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, CA, with ESPN providing the broadcast coverage.
My prediction is that the Ducks avoid the season series sweep tonight. The Avalanche will be playing without stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, as well as key pieces Ross Colton, Devon Toews, Josh Manson, Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Lindgren.
Most of those players are dealing minor nicks and bruises, aside from Makar, who s just resting. Colorado is a legit Stanley Cup odds contender, so trying to keep everyone healthy and fresh for a deep postseason run makes plenty of sense.
The Avs are locked into the third seed in the Central Division, and a first round playoff matchup with the Stars. Removing those players from the equation leaves a lot of offense up for grabs, as they ve accounted for 102 goals this season.
The group rested last night as well, but the impact was most heavily felt in the Colorado end. The Avs surrendered five goals to the Kings in a 5-4 loss. Los Angeles dominated puck possession and fired 55 shots towards Mackenzie Blackwood. Fortunately for the netminder, Colorado blocked 23 of those pucks, but the end result was still 6 expected goals allowed.
Blackwood is expected to get the night off as well, with Scott Wedgewood drawing in. Wedgewood is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, posting a .930 save percentage during that stretch. The 32-year-old stopped 30 shots in his only appearance against Anaheim this season, in a 4-2 win.
As for the Ducks, they may be one of the league s lowest scoring teams, but they do have plenty of scoring depth. Anaheim features five 20+ goal scorers, plus Trevor Zegras who s a two-time 20-goal scorer, and 65+ point producer. The Ducks have struggled to create high-danger scoring chances this season, but that should be much less of an issue against the shorthanded Avs.
Throw in some tired legs for Colorado, and Anaheim s offensive outlook looks much more promising. Lukas Dostal is expected to draw the start in net, and has performed well versus the Avs this season. He s posted a .918 save percentage against Colorado, and boasts a 2.97 goals against average at home.
Given what we saw from Colorado last night, playing minus so many stars is not something they re going to be able to overcome. They were fortunate to only surrender five goals in LA, and I believe Anaheim has more than enough offensive talent to replicate the Kings effort.
The Avs may have the advantage in net, but unless Wedgwood stands on his head, Anaheim should be able to defend home ice. I ll grab them on the moneyline as my favorite pick, a no brainer given the plus-money odds.
Bet TypeAvalancheDucksPuck Line-1.5 (+180)+1.5 (-218)TotalO 5.5 (-125)U 5.5 (-105)Moneyline-135+114The most favorable odds we can find on the Ducks to pull off the upset, is +114 at Caesars. Colorado is listed as a -135 moneyline favorite, while the game total sits at +114. The Avs are laying 1.5 goals on the puck line, a bet that I wouldn t recommend making.
Odds as of April 13th at Caesars. Check out SBD s Caesars Sportsbook review to see the available sign-up bonuses.
Per the NHL public betting trends, Colorado is 27th out of 32 teams against the spread. Anaheim on the other hand, is the best ATS team (49-30) in the entire league.
As SBD s resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he d rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
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