NHL: Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings Prediction

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11 October 2023

NHL: Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings Prediction

An Avalanche of Goals

The game I have circled for Day Two of NHL action is the Colorado Avalanche vs the Los Angeles Kings, and I cannot wait to see these two juggernauts face off. In what could easily be a preview of the Western Conference Final, we get two of the best offenses in the West battling each other for their first games of the season.

Both teams have improved this offseason and both teams have a formula of success that involves goals. So naturally after shopping lines I’ve settled on using BETDSI to hammer the o6 Total at -120 for the Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings.

This game should have it all:

High octane offenses
Superstars looking to start their season off with a BANG
And possibly my favorite reason to lean the over, subpar goaltending

Top Tier Offense

Both the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche managed to improve their already top tier forward rosters this offseason. The Kings made a huge splash by acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubios who had 27 goals and 63 points in only 73 games last season. He should help make each forward line on the Kings click and will be on a line with point per game forward Kevin Fiala. The Kings scored the 10th most goals last season, and may creep up that ranking this year with the added fire power.

On the other side of the ice are the Colorado Avalanche. They were plagued by injuries last season, and struggled to fill the gaps left behind from Kadri who left in free agency. Yet they still managed to be in the top 15 of scoring last season. They made a multiple splashes this offseason to not fall into the same woes as last year.

The Avalanche started off by addressing their weak center position. They added Ryan Johansen and Ross Colton to solidify their 2C and 3C position. Both players have out performed their given positions in the past, with Johansen acting as the Predators and Blue Jackets top center and Colton sliding up the the 2nd forward line for Tampa when needed. Next they added to their winger depth with Drouin and Tatar, two players who will help bring scoring depth to the entire Top 9. The Avalanche should be better equipped to find mismatches now and wont need to just rely on their superstars MacKinnon and Rantanen to find their offense up front.

As Many Stars as the Milkyway

Nathan MacKinnon, Anze Kopitar, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Kevin Fiala; what do all of these players have in common? They have all had an 85+ point season. Some have had 100+ points in a single season. Talk about star power. This list doesn’t even begin to touch the next tier of stars on these two teams such as Danault, PLD, Kempe, Nichushkin, and Johansen who have all had 50+ point seasons.

Clearly both teams can put it in the back of the net. Breaking it down even more you can see these stars clearly have an impact on the team’s powerplays because LAK had the 4th and COL the 6th best powerplays in the 2022-2023 season. To make this even tastier the Kings gave up the 5th most penalties and COL alowed the 10th most penalties per game last season, meaning both teams should get ample time on the powerplay.

Between the Pipes

And then there is the goaltenders…

Let’s talk about who will be attempting to stop pucks tonight. The Kings decided to stick with Phoenix Copley as their starting goaltender. Copley was a career AHL before starting 37 games last season. Admittedly he played very well. But goaly careers can go up and down and I am not ready to trust a 31 year old goalie with 68 career NHL starts. Especially against the Avalanche. And if Copley doesn’t start Cam Talbot will, who had a 2.93 goals against average (GAA) and a sub .900 save percentage.

For the Avalanche they will be starting Alex Georgiev, who again performed well last season but doesn’t have the pedigree of a longterm starter in the league. In his 191 career games he has a 2.8 GAA, which is decent but not amazing. I don’t trust either of these goalies to be able to shut down the high octane offense they will be facing.

Goals, Goals, Goals

I’m going to have my popcorn ready for what should be a goalfest. We have some of the NHL’s premier superstars battling in a primetime slot. It’s extremely difficult to look at these rosters and not see more than six goals being scored. The goaltending is shaky, the offenses have plenty of fuel and the stars will be aligned to soar past this total. Give me COL/LAK o6 at -120 on BETDSI.