Oilers vs. Avalanche prediction: NHL odds, picks for Tuesday

The Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche are now neck and neck on the oddsboard.

The Avs are still a slight favorite ahead the Oilers to win the Western Conference, but Edmonton’s current seven-game winning streak has closed the gap considerably.

Entering play on Tuesday, Colorado is +280 represent the West in the Stanley Cup Final, while Edmonton is sitting at +400.

These are the two best teams in the conference, and they’ll duke it out on Tuesday night.

Oilers vs. Avalanche prediction

(9:30 p.m. ET. ESPN)

It may be a bit of a head-scratcher to see that the Avalanche are underdogs at home against the Oilers, but it’s hard to read too much into these odds right now.

The Avs have dealt with a cruel amount of injuries all season and Tuesday’s game will likely be heavily impacted by ins-and-outs for Colorado.

Cale Makar, Bowen Byram, and Darren Helm are listed as day-to-day, while Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen, and Gabriel Landeskog are all out with long-term injuries.

In addition to being in a much better spot health-wise compared to the Avs, Edmonton is also in the best form of any team this side of the Boston Bruins right now.

The Oilers have won seven on the spin and are 12-0-1 with a +30 goal difference in their last 13 contests. It’s no wonder that bookmakers are slashing their odds all over the place. 

There’s no secret that Edmonton thrives on its ability to produce scoring chances and getting the puck to Connor McDavid.

Still, the Oilers have also been stout defensively over this run, giving up just 23 5-on-5 goals and 120 high-danger scoring chances over their last 13 contests. 

The Avalanche can go toe-to-toe with any team in the NHL, but given their injury issues and the fact that they need at least a point in this game to stay in first place in the Central Division, they’ll likely adopt for a more pragmatic approach to Tuesday night’s contest.

Even banged up, the Avs can win a 6-5 thriller against the Oilers, but in all likelihood, they’ll try to keep this game on script for as long as they possibly can and avoid getting taken to the circus by Connor McDavid.

While these two teams don’t necessarily profile as teams that you’d want to bet to draw in 60 minutes, Edmonton’s defensive form and Colorado’s likely commitment to slowing the game down could turn this into more of a rock fight than you’d think.

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Thus, getting +340 on the game to go beyond 60 minutes seems like a good price for what should be a stellar tilt.