The Colorado Avalanche will conclude a brief two-game road trip Friday with a stop at the slumping Seattle Kraken. The expansion team is in the midst of its worst losing streak – five games – where it’s allowed 24 goals. Even without Nathan MacKinnon, the Avs are not having any troubles and have scored 17 goals over their current three-game winning streak.
Here are our free picks and predictions for Avalanche vs. Kraken for Friday, November 19.
Avalanche vs Kraken odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Seattle opened as +148 on the ML, but that price was immediately sent packing south and was +135 within five minutes. The total sits at 6.5 and leans to the Under.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Avalanche vs Kraken predictions
Predictions made on 11/18/2021 at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
If you're signing up for a new sportsbook for the 2021-22 NHL season, here are two of the best welcome bonuses available:
USA: Sign up with Caesars and get your first bet matched up to $1,001! Claim Now
Canada: Get a 100%-matched sign-up bonus (up to $400) at BetVictor. Claim Now
Avalanche vs Kraken game info
• Location: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
• Date: Friday, November 19, 2021
• Puck drop: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN+
Avalanche vs Kraken betting preview
Injuries
Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon F (Out), J.T. Compher F (Out), Bowen Byram D (Questionable).
Kraken: Mason Appleton F (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Avalanche vs Kraken head-to-head record
Avalanche: N/A
Kraken: N/A
Betting trend to know
The Kraken are 0-5 SU in their last five overall. Find more NHL betting trends for Avalanche vs. Kraken.
Avalanche vs Kraken picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Moneyline analysis
Seattle goalie Phillip Grubauer will be seeing his old team Friday night, and he might be asking the Avs to take him with them when they leave Climate Pledge Arena. Grubauer was a finalist for the Vezina a season ago with Colorado but was signed by the Kraken to a six-year deal in the offseason. The transition has not gone well for the netminder in his new environment, as he’s 4-9 SU with a 3.18 GAA and a .877 save percentage, which are well below-average marks in the NHL. He comes into Friday’s bout in poor form, having allowed 16 goals over his last four games — all losses.
Grubauer’s struggles are great news for a Colorado offense that has been scoring at will with 17 goals over its last three games and includes an incredible 6 for 13 on the power play. Nathan MacKinnon has been out since Nov 10 but the Avs haven’t missed a beat without their top scorer in the lineup as they’ve outscored the opponent 17 to 5 in Nate Mac’s absence.
The Avalanche’s power-play success should be worrisome for the reeling Kraken, who have the No. 28 penalty kill this month. The Avs used the PP to dust off the Canucks on Wednesday and with two solid PP lines, these units are unlikely to lose steam Friday.
Seattle, losers of seven of its last eight, is probably in PP envy as the expansion’s PP game has been brutal this season with its 12.5 percent success rate that ranks as the third-worst unit in hockey.
We’re happy to get on this COL ML at -153 after it opened at -170. Colorado doesn’t play again until Sunday so there is no real look-ahead spot here for the favorite. This is a great early price to jump on, considering the Avs are still the betting favorite to win it all and proving they can win — and score — without MacKinnon.
Prediction: Avalanche ML (-153)
Over/Under analysis
The recent Seattle skid has padded Over backers’ pockets of late, as the Over is a perfect 7-0 in the Kraken’s last seven games. They’ve seen a steady diet of 5.5 totals but will have a new beast today with the 6.5. Is this an overreaction, though?
The Kraken PP is not a unit we’d like to lean on for some Over help, as it has three goals in its last 31 opportunities. The Colorado PP looked fantastic versus the Canucks, scoring five goals in eight chances over two games, but the Kraken are one of the least penalized teams and have not allowed more than two PP chances to opposing over their last five games.
Looking at 5-on-5 play, both teams sit outside the Top 15 in xgoals at even strength and sit in the Top 10 in xgoals against at 5 on 5. There is a massive difference in the Krakens’ actual even-strength goals allowed (3.36) vs. their xgoals (2.29).
Seattle allows the fewest shots against per game, and we’d expect Grubauer to come with his A-game versus his former teammates. Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper has also been solid on the Avs’ backend and has allowed two or fewer goals in four of his last five starts. It took him some time for him to settle down with his new team, but the former Coyote netminder is playing like a Top-10 goalie this month.
The move to 6.5 seems like a slight overreaction and we see it settling back down at 6.
Prediction: Under 6.5 (-120)
Best bet
Even without Nate Mac, there is a huge talent gap between these two teams. Colorado gets great production from the blue line and may get Byram Bowen back Friday night — the D-man has eight even-strength points over his 11 games.
Colorado has the advantage in net, in scoring, in line depth, at 5-on-5 play and also in special teams. The Avs were -176 on the ML at the Blue Jackets four games ago and we value Columbus as a better team than Seattle.
We jumped on the COL -150 ML vs. Vancouver on Wednesday and are doing again for Friday night. We feel this price is short 15 to 20 cents.
Pick: Avalanche ML (-153)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s NHL Avalanche vs. Kraken picks, you could win $20.32 on a $10 bet?
Use our NHL parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
