The Colorado Avalanche and the Edmonton Oilers start off their Western Conference Finals series on Tuesday with the former hosting Game 1 at the Ball Arena.
Home-ice advantage makes the Avalanche big favorites for the clash but the Oilers should be competitive if their offense clicks. Bookmaker Bovada has Edmonton’s goals total set at 2.5 with the odds for the over at -165 and for the under at +125. Colorado’s total stands at 3.5 goals with the odds for the over at -145 and for the under at +110.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 30th, 6:00 P.M. (EST)
These two are immensely talented offensive teams so nobody should be surprised that a lot of goals are expected in their head-to-head match-up even in the playoffs. It’s advertised as a big clash between the No. 1 pick of the 2013 draft, Nathan MacKinnon, and the top pick of the 2015 draft, Connor McDavid, but there should be a lot of co-stars in the series.
McDavid has been incredible throughout the postseason with 26 points but Leon Draisaitl shares the scoring lead in the league with him. The German superstar was supposedly hurt in Game 7 of the first-round series against Los Angeles, but he went on to register a mind-boggling 17 points in a five-game second-round series against Calgary and Edmonton’s No. 29 is definitely going to be a big problem for Colorado as well.
The Avalanche, who won the regular-season series between the two teams 2-1, have five different players averaging at least a point per game in the playoffs. The team was incredible during the regular season and nothing has slowed them down in the playoffs either.
MacKinnon leads the team in goals with eight, but he’s only tied for the lead in points. Cale Makar has proven himself as an immense postseason performer and his work this year consists of 13 points in 10 games. He’s managed 44 points in total across 45 career playoff appearances, which is a hugely impressive return for a defenseman.
Colorado also should have an extra gear or two to go through with Mikko Rantanen having had very little luck in front of goal so far. The Finnish winger has scored just once in the playoffs and even that one was an empty-net goal.
This series will also feature the best goal-scorer of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. Evander Kane has been grabbing the headlines for the right reasons for a change and enters Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with 12 goals scored in as many games.
