The Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche are set to clash in what is sure to be an exciting game full of offensive talent — we have our eye on the total in our NHL picks and predictions.
The Penguins are the road underdogs tonight, but they are coming off of a massive win against Minnesota, which ended the Wild’s seven-game win streak.
The Avalanche have won three out of their last four contests, but this will be their first time playing the Penguins since January of 2020.
See who has the NHL betting edge for Penguins vs. Avalanche on Saturday, April 2.
Penguins vs Avalanche odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Avs opened up as -145 home favorites, the line has moved in their favor to -160. The total opened up at 6.5, but is now at 6.
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.
Penguins vs Avalanche predictions
Predictions made on 4/2/2022 at 1:10 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Penguins vs Avalanche game info
• Location: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
• Date: Saturday, April 2, 2022
• Puck drop: 3:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ABC, ESPN+
Penguins vs Avalanche betting preview
Key injuries
Penguins: Brock McGinn F (Out), Nathan Beaulieu D (Out), Jason Zucker F (Out).
Avalanche: Nazem Kadri F (Questionable), Bowen Byram D (Out), Ryan Murray D (Out), Gabriel Landeskog F (Out), Samuel Girard D (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Penguins vs Avalanche head-to-head record
Penguins: 3-3-0 SU, 20 goals for.
Avalanche: 3-1-2 SU, 19 goals for.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 6-0 in the Penguins’ last six Saturday games. Find more NHL betting trends for Penguins vs. Avalanche.
Penguins vs Avalanche picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t played against the Avalanche in over two years, but this matchup has a ton of anticipation with the offensive talent on each side. For the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin is starting to heat up, as he had the overtime winner in the team’s last game, 4-3 on the road in Minnesota. Malkin has four goals and two assists in his last three games, of which the Pens have won two, now only one point back from second place in the Metropolitan division.
Pittsburgh will likely face its toughest test of the season today, but the good news is that Colorado will be missing some key pieces to their lineup. Nazem Kadri, the Avs’ leading scorer, is deemed questionable today due to an undisclosed injury. If Kadri isn’t in the lineup, this means that the Avs will be missing two of their top five scorers.
Colorado has been the best team in the league all season, but with Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog out of the lineup, they have big holes to fill. Their offensive hasn’t looked as elite as normal in the last three games, as they have only put up eight goals in that span.
The Penguins have the edge in goaltending and the games matter much more for Pittsburgh right now than they do for the Avs. I think there is some incredible value on the Pens today and I think they can pull off the upset.
Prediction: Penguins ML (+125 at BetMGM)
Over/Under analysis
The Avalanche might be the second-best offensive team in the league, but like I stated earlier, they will be without two of their top scorers. As good as Colorado is offensively, the Penguins are almost just as strong on the defensive end. Pittsburgh is ranked fourth in defensive efficiency as it’s allowing 2.59 goals against per game.
This will be a very solid goaltending duel between Darcy Kuemper for Colorado and Tristan Jarry for the Penguins. Jarry has been the better of the two as he has been a Top-10 goalie in the league this year, posting an overall record of 33-14-6 and an eighth-ranked 16.2 GSAx. He got the last game off, so he has had a couple of extra days of rest gearing up for this battle against Kuemper.
Kuemper has been exactly what the Avalanche needed. He isn’t a goalie that will necessarily steal a win, but when you have a team in front of you that can score goals, it doesn’t really matter. He is 31-9-3 on the season with a .924 save percentage and actually has a better GSAx than Jarry at 21.1.
Both goalies have been strong all year, and with the pieces out of the lineup for the Avs I don’t see them exploding offensively. I think 6.5 is way too high of a total and this game should stay Under.
Prediction: Under 6.5 (-115 at BetMGM)
Best bet
The Penguins are very capable of going on the road and surprising this Avalanche team. I love the fact that Tristan Jarry has had a couple of extra days of rest and he has played well against top teams this season. Pittsburgh has been great in its own end in the last three games, only giving up a combined seven goals against.
The Avs haven’t been producing as much offensively as of late — in their last three games they’ve only put up eight goals.
I have a lot of faith in the goaltending to keep this game close and low-scoring, I love the Under.
Pick: Under 6.5 (-115 at BetMGM)
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