Penguins vs. Avalanche NHL odds, prediction, pick: Can injured Pittsburgh keep pace with surging Colorado?
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in rough shape right now. After rattling off a 7-1-1 stretch to quiet some of the doubters that popped up around the Trade Deadline, the Pens have now lost four in a row and head on the road for a back-to-back in Colorado on Wednesday night and Dallas on Thursday night.
To make matters worse, the Penguins are dealing with an injury crisis on the blueline. Jeff Petry, Marcus Pettersson and Jan Rutta are all doubtful to play and Dmitry Kulikov is out, meaning the Penguins could be without four of their six regular defensemen on Wednesday night vs. the Avalanche.
Here’s our betting preview for Wednesday night’s Penguins-Avs game.
Avalanche -1.5 (+140)
As if the injuries weren’t tough enough, the Penguins are also catching the Avs at a brutal time. While the Avalanche have spent a lot of this season trying to get their game in order while dealing with a comical list of injuries, they have caught fire of late.
Not only has Colorado won six games in a row, but the Avs are in the midst of a 14-4-3 stretch since the All-Star break and have put themselves in a position where they can catch the Dallas Stars at the top of the Pacific Division with a win over the reeling Penguins. It is hard to imagine a worse time to have the Avs on your schedule than what the Pens will be dealing with tonight.
It’s not just the spot and the injuries that makes this a tall task for Pittsburgh, either. Stylistically, this looks like a bad matchup for the Pens. Under Mike Sullivan, the Penguins have developed a reputation as a well-structured unit that plays responsible defense, which means that their high-end offensive players don’t need to shoot the lights out to compete. That has not been the case this season, though.
Pittsburgh is generating plenty of scoring chances of late, but they’ve also struggled defensively and are inside the bottom-10 in the NHL at preventing high-danger scoring chances since the All-Star break. This high-event style of hockey can work against also-rans, but when you’re taking on a team with more offensive depth than you, it becomes perilous.
The Avalanche do their best work in transition and should really fancy themselves against a banged-up Penguins team that is having trouble slowing down any offense right now, let alone one of the best units in the entire circuit.
Colorado should be able to get the separation needed to cover the puckline on Wednesday night.
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