The Utah Hockey Club will struggle to continue their hot streak when they visit the Avalanche in this NHL odds, prediction, and pick.
Nate Duffett
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The Utah Hockey Club enters this game with some momentum as they took the league's best team to the limit on Wednesday night by losing in a shootout. However, it won't get any easier when Utah hits the road to take on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche enter this game with a new goaltending tandem and a hot streak, which is trouble for the rest of the Western Conference. Colorado won the first matchup between these two teams, visiting Utah for the first time in October and winning 5-1. It's time to continue our NHL odds series with a Utah Hockey Club-Avalanche prediction and pick.
Here are the Utah Hockey Club-Avalanche NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Utah Hockey Club: +1.5 (-155)
Moneyline: +160
Colorado Avalanche: -1.5 (+134)
Moneyline: -183
Over: 6.5 (-110)
Under: 6.5 (-110)
Time: 9 PM ET/6 PM PT
TV: Utah16, Altitude
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Utah started the year on a hot streak, which many expected thanks to the momentum of a new fanbase after spending the last few seasons in the 5,000-seat stadium on the Arizona State campus. It was something new for the franchise, and some wondered if they could go on a Cinderella run on the backs of the fan support. However, they went through a lull in the middle of the season and are now rounding back into form. They are 5-3-2 over their past ten games and have points in four of their past five games. Their shootout loss against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night shows they can compete with the league's top teams.
Utah's offense has been performing well, a significant change from their struggles over the past month. Utah scored 13 goals over their last three games and have 3+ goals in seven of their last ten games.
The Avalanche had plenty of concerns about their goaltenders through the season's first 25 games, but they moved to bring in Scott Wedgewood as Alexandar Georgiev's tandem mate. The issue was that Georgiev was giving them the most problems, and they were out of ideas to get him back into the form they saw when they acquired him to be their new starter after winning the Stanley Cup. Colorado has never been able to return to that cup-winning form, and Georgiev's struggles are a massive reason why. Colorado hopes the recent acquisition of Mackenzie Blackwood to replace Georgiev will give them more reliability, as he has a 3.00 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
The Avalanche had already played better before Blackwood played a game for the franchise. Since they acquired him from the Nashville Predators, Wedgewood has been lights out, and they have won three consecutive games. Wedgewood stopped 50 of 52 shots over his past two games but will likely give the net to Blackwood for his debut in this game.
Utah's recent offensive resurgence is concerning, but the Avalanche believe they now have a goaltending tandem that will elevate them to the next level. Utah used plenty of effort to squeak out the shootout loss against the Wild on Saturday night, and it feels like this could be a letdown spot against a surging Avalanche team.
Final Utah HC-Avalanche Prediction & Pick: Avalanche ML (-183)
Nate Duffett is a writer for ClutchPoints and a sports junkie at heart, especially for the Boston sports scene. Whether it's covering the NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, or College Football and Basketball, there is not a sport Nate isn't able to discuss.
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