Avalanche vs Senators Prediction, Stream, Odds and Picks Mar 16

Defending Champion Has Won Three Straight

Colorado became the fifth team from the Western Conference to record 20 road wins this season after Alexandar Georgiev made two saves in the shootout and Nathan MacKinnon scored the deciding goal in a 2-1 win over Toronto on Wednesday.

Ottawa is heading in the opposite direction, with one win over the last five games. The Senators should remember losing by seven goals the last time they played the Avalanche.

The Avalanche is in the top 10 in the NHL in success rate on both the power play and penalty kill since Feb. 1. Ottawa is third in penalty killing but just 28th on the power play during that stretch.

Colorado has won the last five times when playing in the second game of back-to-backs.

When looking at some of the NHL news, defenseman Thomas Chabot and forward Mathieu Joseph are day-to-day.

Colorado is still waiting for first-line winger Gabriel Landeskog to make his season debut. Fellow forward Artturi Lehkonen is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a finger injury. Defensemen Erik Johnson and Josh Manson and goalie Pavel Francouz are out. Defenseman Kurtis MacDermid is questionable.

According to the NHL odds, the Avalanche (+700) are second in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title. The Ottawa Senators (+12500) are tied for 19th in the championship odds.

Rantanen Lighting It Up

It has been a challenging season for the Colorado Avalanche between the offseason departures and injuries to key players.

One of the most reliable contributors is winger Mikko Rantanen.

Rantanen had a career-high 92 points last season and added 25 more during the run to the Stanley Cup title. Rantanen had more assists than goals in each of his last five seasons. With somebody needing to pick up the goal-scoring slack, Rantanen has been happy to oblige.

He has nine goals in his last 13 games and has lit the lamp in the last two as Colorado puts pressure on second-place Minnesota in the Central Division.

Mikko flipped a switch. #GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/5VvsnmPWm0

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 15, 2023

Rantanen has set a career-high with 44 goals and is on pace for a 55-goal season. His next power-play goal will mark the fourth time in his career that he has at least 10 power-play goals.

Counting his two-goal game earlier this season, Rantanen has five goals and five assists in nine games over the last four seasons against Ottawa.

The Las Vegas odds total has gone over in four of the last six games against teams from the Eastern Conference.

Time Running Out

Ottawa was pushing for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference before losing its last three games to fall six points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot in the conference.

The Senators have not led in any of those three games, getting outshot 102-73 and outscored 16-6. The Senators have scored just once on 12 power-play chances and allowed three man-advantage goals.

It is hard to imagine what those numbers would look like without Tim Stutzle. The 21-year-old forward had a hand in five of those six goals, with three goals and two assists.

The NHL betting lines total has gone under in four of Colorado’s last six games.

Avalanche vs Senators Game Injuries

Avalanche vs Senators Head-to-Head

Rantanen and Alex Newhook scored within Colorado’s first six shots in a 7-0 win on Jan. 14, making it four wins in five meetings for the Avalanche.

Eight of the last 10 games between the Avalanche and Senators went over the total.

Ottawa has won four of the last five times that Colorado came to town, with three of those contests decided by one goal.

Avalanche vs Senators Game Information

• Game: Avalanche (38-22-6) vs Senators (33-30-4)
• Location: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa
• Day/Time: Thursday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. ET
• Avalanche vs Senators Live stream:NHL.TV

Avalanche vs Senators Betting Lines

Avalanche vs Senators Picks and Prediction

Two of the NHL’s top 10 scorers since the NHL All-Star Game will be headliners in this game. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who has 16 points and 11 assists, and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle, with 12 goals and 12 assists over that span, who is +7 as well.

When making NHL picks, keep in mind that 19 of the 33 wins by Ottawa have come at home.

Colorado is 26-19-3 when listed by the sportsbook as the favorite. Ottawa is 10-21-3 as the underdog.

The Avalanche is 19-13 against the NHL lines on the road with the Senators covering 19 of 33 games on home ice.

The Colorado Avalanche is listed at -135 in our Las Vegas hockey odds. This means that if you wager $100 on the Avalanche, you have a chance to win $74. Ottawa is +115, offering a chance to win $115 on a $100 wager.

The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Colorado Avalanche a 57.45% chance to win, with the Ottawa Senators at 46.51%.