Golden Knights at Avalanche Game 2 Preview

After an incredibly lopsided Game 1, the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche are hitting the ice Wednesday night in Denver for Game 2. The Avs will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead, while the Knights will have a chance to even up the series.

Here is a quick recap of Game 1, followed by some players to watch and a free betting pick. Right now, Colorado is a sizable -205 favorite at home, while Vegas is a road underdog at +172.

Series Recap

After sweeping the Blues in the first round of the playoffs, the Avalanche kept things rolling with a huge 7-1 victory in Game 1 against the Golden Knights. Not only was it a blowout, but the teams also combined for 74 penalty minutes, however, it was Colorado who mostly reaped the rewards of that with six power-play opportunities compared to Vegas’ two.

The other big takeaway from Sunday was the performance of Colorado’s first line. Center Nathan MacKinnon, left wing Gabriel Landeskog, and right wing Mikko Rantanen were responsible for five of Colorado’s seven goals, with each of them also earning one assist. The other standout was their number one defenseman Cale Makar, who had a game-high four points thanks to a goal and trio of assists.

Colorado dominated in shots as well, out-shooting their opponent 37 to 25. The game also served as a continuation of Philipp Grubauer’s excellent postseason, as he has held opponents to a single goal in three of his five postseason starts.

Players to Watch

Starting with the Golden Knights, it’s time for right wing Mark Stone to find the scoresheet again. Stone, who led Vegas in the regular season with 61 points, has a team-high four goals this postseason but also enters Wednesday in the midst of a three-game point drought. There will also be considerable pressure on Marc-Andre Fleury, who, after watching Robin Lehner struggle in net in Game 1, will look to get the Knights back on track.

While all of Colorado’s first line has looked dominant, MacKinnon, in particular, has been extraordinary. The former Hart Trophy finalist has eight goals this postseason, three more than the next highest player across the league, and is tied with former MVP Nikita Kucherov for a league-leading 12 points. Another key player is defenseman Ryan Graves, who, in addition to having five points in five games, also leads the team with a plus-minus of +10.

Key Stat

Simply put, Colorado’s top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen has been incredible. In fact, when all three players are on the ice together, the Avs are out-scoring their opponents 11 to 1.

Betting Pick

While Colorado looked dominant in Game 1, there are a couple of things to consider for Vegas. Mainly, the shift to Fleury after Lehner’s disappointing performance is important, as Fleury faced the Avs seven times in the regular season and beat them in four of those matchups, averaging 2.14 goals allowed.

You also can expect there to be far fewer than 44 penalty minutes for Vegas, who had a total of three players, including the now-suspended Ryan Reaves serving 10-minute majors. While it didn’t look like it in Game 1, no team in the regular season had a more successful penalty kill than the Golden Knights.

Stopping MacKinnon and that dominant line is no easy task, but I expect Vegas to be more up to the task this go-around. They played the Avs on Sunday at a time where they were less than 48 hours removed from a Game 7 victory, while Colorado had a full week in between their sweep of St. Louis and Game 1 against Vegas.

At their tremendous underdog value, I’m picking the Golden Knights, led by one of the league’s top goaltenders in Fleury, to bounce back and pull off the road upset Wednesday night to even up the series.

Pick: Golden Knights +172