Will the Blues tie the series?
“Slip up ironed out” Avs fans will have thought after Game 3 of the series against the Blues. In the end, they beat the Cup winners from three years ago 5:2, although it was anything but a walk in the park for a long time in St. Louis.
As if the defeat wasn’t bad enough for the Blues, goalie Jordan Binnington was injured in the first period and couldn’t return. If he is now out for longer, we see little chance for St. Louis to win the series.
Though it was another really strong game of the underdogs, who even won the goal-shooting duel with 31:27. Nevertheless, it remains the case for the rest of the series that the Avalanche can only beat themselves if they underestimate the Blues again from now on.
All in all, for Blues vs. Avs our forecast for both Game 4 on Monday and for the series is an ultimately undisputed success for the top favourite for the Stanley Cup. Should the Flames and Oilers continue to duke it out in the other East matchup, their chances go up even more.
St. Louis Blues – Statistics & current form
It ultimately turned out the way most experts expected, and the Avs’ individual class was too much for the Blues to handle on Saturday. They certainly won’t give up on the series though, after all they were already down 2-1 in Round 1 against the Wild as well.
There are few teams in the league that have such a fighting spirit as the Blues, which is also due to their physical style of play. 37:25 hits in Game 3 show that they have definitely taken the fight to their overmatched opponents.
Without Binnington – without a chance?
They may now have to fight it out without Jordan Binnington from Game 4 onwards. The goalie, who has been outstanding in the playoffs so far, suffered an injury less than seven minutes into Game 3 and was unable to return to the ice.
It didn’t look good and we would be very surprised if he were to be between the posts again in this series. His replacement Ville Husso is not bad, but with his 82.6% save percentage he was quite a bit weaker than Binnington.
In addition, he has almost no experience to show. He started only three playoff games in his career and should now add number 4 on Monday. So not the best conditions for St. Louis.
Low scoring games as an opportunity
So going forward, it can only be a matter of keeping the Avs away from their own goal as much as possible, which is easier said than done. A disjointed game in the middle period would play into their hands – as would a low-scoring game.
They had that for a long time in Game 3 before the Avs ended up scoring twice. While we imagine the Blues will be able to manufacture a low-scoring game, we still see them walking off the ice as losers in the end.
For St. Louis vs. Colorado, the odds on the Avs combined with Under 7.5 total goals are thus a great way to combine both probabilities.
Key Players:
G: Ville Husso
D: Nick Leddy
D: Colton Parayko
LW: Brayden Schenn
C: Ryan O’Rielly
RW: David Perron
Colorado Avalanche – Statistics & current form
There is little new with the Avalanche ahead of Game 4, which is why we can keep it a little shorter on them. They made the most of their favourite status in Game 3, thanks in large part to their effectiveness. Four shots less, but three goals more – that’s what an absolute top team does.
After the clear 54:25 shot advantage in Game 1, however, we now expect the men from Denver to again dominate more in Game 4. In addition, they are of course helped by the fact that Blues goalie Binnington could be out, which should further increase their chances.
MacKinnon and Makar as leaders
What is clear on the ice is their two leaders. The 23-year-old Cale Makar is clearly in charge of the defence and NHL superstar Nathan MacKinnon is in charge of the offence. In general, Colorado’s team chemistry seems to be particularly good this year.
That’s been a problem on and off in previous years, but the 2022 Avs are as dangerous as they’ve ever been. This makes a bet on Colorado for Game 4 of Blues vs. Avalanche our clear betting recommendation.
Key Players:
G: Darcy Kuemper
D: Devon Toews
D: Cale Makar
LW: Valeri Nichuskin
C: Nathan MacKinnon
RW: Mikko Rantanen
St. Louis Blues – Colorado Avalanche Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance
The Avs are back on track and could thus continue their good series against the Blues after a short setback. Colorado is now 7-1 in playoff wins in its franchise history against St. Louis.
It is hard to imagine that this will now turn around 180 degrees in the remaining duels. We even expect a 4:1 win in the series, especially since Binnington, the Blues’ most important factor, is now threatening to disappear.
For St. Louis against Colorado, the odds on the Avs are still quite decent, especially if we combine them with Under 7.5 goals. That mark being surpassed is relatively unlikely after the early results of the series (5, 5 and 7 goals).
St. Louis Blues – Colorado Avalanche Tip
Yes, seven total goals were scored in the last duel. But two of those came in the final two minutes when the Blues had to throw everything forward. One was even an emptynetter. That makes Under 7.5 points a bet we should definitely keep an eye on.
In addition, we are again betting on the clearly favoured Avs for Monday. Taken together, this gives us a bet on Colorado + Under 7.5 for Blues vs. Avalanche. There is a little risk involved, but the value of up to 2.77 definitely gives us a “Go” here.
As an alternative for Game 4, we see bets on Cale Makar to score. The defender has collected seven points in the last five play-off games – the most of his entire team.
