Face-off: 1900, 08/01/2022
Venue: Ball Arena
Colorado and Toronto are two of the leading fancies for Stanley Cup glory this season and a high-quality contest is on the cards at Ball Arena.
Both teams have impressed since the Christmas break but we just feel the Avalanche may be more fired up to avenge last month’s 8-3 road loss to the Maple Leafs.
Punters can get 2.1 for a home win in regular time at Ball Arena and that is the first of our Colorado Avalanche vs Toronto Maple Leafs predictions.
Colorado Avalanche Odds
Colorado have kicked off 2022 with a hat-trick of victories and improved their record at this venue to 12-2-1 when thrashing Winnipeg 7-1 on Thursday.
The Jets were chasing a fourth straight success but had no answer to the Avalanche’s attacking firepower after a tight opening period ended 1-1.
Gabriel Landeskog hit a treble, while Nathan MacKinnon continued his great run of form with a goal and four assists.
That made it 10 consecutive home victories for Colorado, matching the longest streak in franchise history, achieved previously in 1984, 1995 and 2018.
Head coach Jared Bednar felt that was the best his top line had played this term, stating: “I liked their game all the way round.
“They were involved physically right away, really assertive on loose pucks, they checked the right way and got rewarded for their hard work.”
This should be a tougher test on paper but the Avalanche will have last month’s drubbing at Scotiabank Arena in mind if they do get on top and we reckon they will be keen to settle the score.
Looking at the NHL odds for this game, we like 5.75 for a home win by three goals.
Toronto Maple Leafs Odds
Toronto obviously can’t be taken lightly after a 4-2 home victory over Edmonton made it four straight wins either side of the winter break.
However, that was a close contest, with Ilya Mikheyev only putting the Maple Leafs ahead at 11:25 in the third period.
After missing the first 29 matches with a thumb injury, Mikheyev has now netted three times in as many outings.
“Mikheyev makes us a better team, there’s no question about that,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “He makes us a deeper team.”
Toronto have only been beating struggling opponents in the current good run, though, and could be caught out by this step up in class.
Let’s finish off our NHL predictions by taking 2.45 for Colorado to win the first period and 16.5 they prevail 5-2.
Additional stats
Last result:
COLORADO 7-1 Winnipeg
TORONTO 4-2 Edmonton
Head-to-head: Toronto 8-3 Colorado
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