Mark Lammey
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The NHL Global Series wraps up this weekend in Tampere, Finland and we hit our Same Game Parlay the last time the league was overseas. It began with preseason matchups in Switzerland and Germany, and the first weekend of the regular season took place in Prague, Czech Republic. It will be the Blue Jackets and Avalanche that are featured in this last doubleheader. Colorado is just over 4 months removed from winning the Stanley Cup, while Columbus is trying to improve from a slow 3-7-0 start. These teams don’t meet often, but let’s see how the first game of their back-to-back plays out. Along with this Same Game Parlay, be sure to check out our NHL analysis for the upcoming games.
Avalanche -1.5 (+100)
1st period goals – Over 1.5 (-160)
Nathan MacKinnon anytime goalscorer (-120)
Parlay odds: +320
Let’s take a closer look at each leg of our same game parlay.
Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+100) over Columbus Blue Jackets
There was hope among Blue Jackets fans heading into this season that they could be a playoff-caliber team. Patrik Laine was set to enter the season healthy, and they made arguably the biggest offseason addition. Johnny Gaudreau decided not to resign with the Calgary Flames and wanted to be closer to home in Columbus. Unfortunately, Laine’s health has already been an issue and the team hasn’t gotten off to the start they had anticipated. While the Avs haven’t been quite as dominant as they were last season, there is still little reason to doubt them. They handled the Minnesota Wild 6-3 and also took down the New York Rangers, a team that was 2 games away from facing Colorado in the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
Both of those games were on the road, and neither team will have home-ice advantage for this matchup. We’re going with the puck line due to how poorly the Jackets have looked recently. They’ve lost their last 3 games by a combined score of 17-4. They haven’t even looked competitive. The first of those 3 losses was a 6-3 home loss to a terrible Arizona Coyotes team. That was followed by a shutout loss at home and a 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. The bottom line is that until Columbus proves they can at least put up a fight, there’s no reason to expect anything but a convincing Colorado win.
Be sure to check out our full Columbus Blue Jackets vs Colorado Avalanche predictions
1st period goals – Over 1.5 (-160)
We’ve already gone through how much the Jackets have struggled slowing the opposition down, and that should be no different against a team as star-studded as the Avs. They should get off to a fast start behind the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. MacKinnon is largely considered the best skater in the world alongside Connor McDavid, and Makar is a future face of the NHL that is coming off a Norris Trophy-winning season for the league’s best defenseman. He won that award in part by setting the Avalanche franchise record for most points by a defenseman last season with 86.
He’s been a perfect assist-man for MacKinnon and helped the team get off to fast starts. Columbus has allowed the most goals per game in the entire league, so that should be the case again in this matchup. The Jackets allowed 2 goals in the 1st period to the Coyotes, so that should be no problem for the Avs. Even if they don’t handle this prop themselves, Columbus isn’t completely inept. Gaudreau is still a stud, and Colorado got rid of their goaltender Darcy Kuemper after hoisting the Cup. They just allowed 5 goals to a very defensive team in the New York Islanders their last time on the ice. This will be their 5th straight road game and with both teams in an uncomfortable environment far from home, goaltenders may get off to a shaky start.
Nathan MacKinnon anytime goalscorer (-120)
It’s no surprise that we’re going with the superstar MacKinnon for our goalscorer prop. He’s an incredible skater and there will be some added responsibility on him to find the back of the net. Gabriel Landeskog is missing the first portion of the season due to injury and Nazem Kadri is no longer with the team. Even with those 2 on the ice, MacKinnon still had 32 goals last season. It’s also well-known that he is not afraid to take his chances.
His shots on goal prop is virtually always set at 4.5 rather than the standard 2.5, and he had 299 shots last season. That was also while playing in just 65 games. He’s averaging 5 shots on goal so far this season and has 12 points to go along with them. It was Rantanen who scored the last time the Avs were on the ice, so it’s time for MacKinnon to find the back of the net. That’s more than feasible given that Columbus has the worst goaltending in the NHL.
Also check out our best NHL player prop bets for today!
What is a Same Game Parlay?
Check out our guide on what is a same game parlay and where can I bet it?
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