For The NHL Gamblers!
The Vancouver Canucks, winners of five straight games welcome the Colorado Avalanche to Rogers Arena Thursday night, one night after the Avs fell 4-3 to the Iginla-less Calgary Flames. Although the Canucks have yet to put together 60 minutes of truly Canucks caliber hockey as of late, they do have the honor of facing an Avs team that they have absolutely had their way with the past couple of seasons.
Colorado Avalanche (11-16-3-1) at Vancouver Canucks (18-9-1-5)
When: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 28, 2013
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Broadcast: ALT, SNET-P
Avs vs. Canucks Betting Lines from Bodog
Colorado Avalanche +1½ -165 +186 Ov 5 -135
Vancouver Canucks -1½ +145 -205 Un 5 +123
Canucks Try to Continue Dominance Over Colorado Thursday Night
The Canucks are 17-0-2 in their last 19 games against Colorado, including nine in a row while outscoring them 29-9.
The Colorado Avalanche are currently last in the Western Conference – you can point to their horrendous play on the road as the main reason they occupy the basement. Colorado is 2-11-3 on the road this season and they have lost 10 straight games away from the Pepsi Center – yuk!
Colorado played well in spurts offensively Wednesday night outshooting the Flames 16-2 in the third period but they were unable to get the job done. The offense is just a notch below Vancouver’s with an average of 2.53 goals for per game.
Gabriel Landeskog, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, continues to be a rare bright spot for Colorado. He has five goals and an assist over the past six games after scoring Wednesday. Ryan O’Reilly has two goals and five assists during a four-game point streak for Colorado, while PA Parenteau is has two goals and three assists in the past three.
They appear to be the real threats on the Avalanche roster.
Defensively Colorado has been one of the worst teams in the NHL this season allowing an average of 3.22 goals per game. Semyon Varlamov has lost all seven career meetings with Vancouver, with four coming on the road as he’s posted a 3.13 GAA. He has dropped all 12 of his road games on the season and has a 3.79 GAA over that span.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Vancouver Canucks Betting Lines & Handicapping
Jean-Sebastien Giguere may get the nod Thursday – he is 0-4-1 with a 3.71 GAA in his last seven starts against the Canucks.
The Canucks threw everything they had at the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night and finally won in a shootout. Cory Schneider continues to be the big story – he won his fifth in a row in that game and now has given up just five goals in his last five games. In his last four he has posted a 0.73 GAA and .970 save % age.
The goaltending has righted the ship, now the offense has to catch up!
Vancouver is still floundering around the middle of the pack in terms of offense this year – 2.54 goals per game – just .01 goals per game more than the Avalanche. They were unable to score on Tuesday and the power play is still mired in that season long slump. The Canucks are just 13.1% with the man advantage so far this season.
Here is the extended list of Canucks that are struggling offensively.
Henrik Sedin has just one assist in four games, Daniel Sedin is pointless in four games, Alex Burrows has one point in six games, Alex Edler has one point in four, Dan Hamhuis has zero points in four games, Kevin Bieksa has been held off the score sheet for six games and Chris Higgins has been held pointless for eight straight!
Wow!
Thank goodness for the Mason Raymond, Jannik Hansen line – they have been Vancouver’s best the last week or so.
Dave’s Won’t Cost You Anything Free Betting Prediction:
A few trends to consider:
• COL are 17-39 in their last 56 Thu. games.
• COL are 20-45 in their last 65 vs. Northwest.
• COL are 16-35 in their last 51 road games.
• VAN are 9-2 in their last 11 Thu. games.
• VAN are 43-15 in their last 58 vs. Northwest.
• Under is 16-6-5 in VAN last 27 vs. Northwest.
• COL are 6-20 in the last 26 meetings.
The Vancouver Canucks should be fairly well rested after their last game Tuesday at home – the Avs played last night in Calgary. Add in the fact that the Canucks have owned the Avalanche and this pick becomes pretty easy.
Vancouver has emerged from their unflattering 3-6-2 stretch and with Mr. Schneider playing the way he is, there is no reason to think that he and the Canucks can’t stretch their win streak to six Thursday night. The oddsmakers love Vancouver in this one and so do I!
Pick: Vancouver Canucks -205
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