Colorado Avalanche vs Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction: Best Bet for Tuesday

Colorado scores 4.21 goals per game, the most on the Tuesday slate, and Columbus scores 2.33, close to the least. Nathan MacKinnon has 24 points and Artturi Lehkonen has 12 goals, and the Blue Jackets have to survive waves of that attack with a power play converting 12.9 percent.

The Matchup

Colorado is 8-5-1 at plus-1.14 per game, scoring 4.21 goals and allowing 3.07, and the Avalanche play the fastest, heaviest offensive game on the Tuesday slate. Nathan MacKinnon leads the team with 15 assists and 24 points, and Artturi Lehkonen has 12 goals, so Colorado's top line scores in transition, off the cycle, and on second chances. Mackenzie Blackwood is at a 2.73 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage in net, with Scott Wedgewood behind him at 3.48 and .889, and the Avalanche can afford ordinary goaltending most nights because of what happens at the other end.

Columbus is 5-7-0 at minus-0.92, scoring just 2.33 goals per game and allowing 3.25, and the Blue Jackets play a small game against a team that plays an enormous one. Kent Johnson leads Columbus with 7 goals and 12 points and Zach Werenski has 10 assists, and after those two the scoring drops off quickly. Jet Greaves sits at a 3.11 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage, which is a hard profile to bring against the highest-scoring team in this matchup.

Columbus reports a clean injury sheet, which is its best news. Colorado is not whole either. Josh Manson is out with an ankle injury on his left side and is not expected back until late December, and Zachary L'Heureux is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Key Factors

A two-goal margin needs a team that scores in bunches and an opponent that cannot answer, and this game has both. Colorado's 4.21 goals per game against a Columbus defense allowing 3.25, in front of a goaltender at .883, is the recipe for the multi-goal periods the Avalanche produce when their transition game gets going.

Columbus's problem is the response. At 2.33 goals per game with a power play converting 12.9 percent against a Colorado kill of 76.9 percent, the Blue Jackets have no reliable way to score the quick goal that stops a run.

The counterpoint is Colorado's own defense, which allows 3.07 per game and can give a home underdog just enough life to keep a margin pick sweating into the third period. Wedgewood's numbers, if he starts, make that risk bigger. It is a real risk, and it is why the price is generous. But a margin pick on Colorado does not need a shutout. It needs the Avalanche offense to be itself for two periods, against the weakest attack on the home side of this slate, and that has been the safest bet in this matchup all season.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.