Colorado Avalanche vs Vegas Golden Knights prediction
Colorado Avalanche
Jared Bednar's squad absolutely dominated the regular season, practically running away with the championship. It's not just the impressive 121 points they accumulated, but also the fact that the Avalanche were the only team to net over 300 goals in the season (302, to be exact). Entering the playoff phase, Colorado continued to assert their superiority, sweeping Los Angeles in the first round (4-0) and then comfortably dispatching Minnesota (4-1).
Notably, their Stanley Cup pursuit started with two low-scoring outcomes, largely due to the opposition, as LA is one of the league's top defensive teams. Still, they managed to defeat the Kings (4-2) and (5-1), and once they faced Minnesota, a goal-scoring spree began. They broke the 5.5 total bar in all five quarterfinals games, scoring 24 goals over those matches.
Looking at individual performances, in the regular season, Necas made it into the top 10 scorers with 100 points (38+62), and of course, MacKinnon led with 127 points (53+74). In the playoffs, these two have been the Avalanche's leading scorers, even though Necas has 11 points (1+10), MacKinnon is ahead with 13 points (7+6).
Vegas Golden Knights
John Tortorella's team had a strong finish to the regular season, securing a top-four spot in the conference. However, their opening playoff series against Utah was no walk in the park. The Golden Knights found themselves trailing (1-2) but rallied to win three consecutive matches. Intriguingly, their series with the Mammoth proved to be action-packed and high-scoring (five high-output games in six matches).
One would have expected a fiery series against Anaheim, but it turned out only half of the games were exceptionally high-scoring. On the flip side, the "Knights" looked impressive in attack throughout the postseason, missing out on scoring three or more goals just four times over the distance, with only two such occurrences against the Ducks in six games.
Curiously, Vegas has more players in the top 13 scorers of the playoffs. Dorofeyev has racked up 11 points (9+2), and Pavelski scored five goals, including two braces, in the last three games. We also have Eichel with 15 points (1+14), and Marner with 18 points (7+11), currently the leading scorer in the playoffs.
Prediction
Both teams boast six players among the league's top 18 in points, but that's not the main reason I'm inclined to wager on the over. First, out of their last five meetings, three comfortably surpassed the total limit, with Colorado recently winning in a shootout (6-5). Second, the Avalanche has consistently cleared the over (5.5) in the last seven matches, most memorably in their opening series game against Minnesota, which they won (9-6).
Vegas' offensive mindset is evident with eight high-scoring results and Marner leading the playoff points board. In my estimation, everything is set for the opening semifinal games to be both exhilarating and prolific in terms of goals, especially recalling those 15 goals Avalanche put past the Wild in that series' first clash.
