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The NHL Western Conference Finals are set to begin on the final day of May, and this is a matchup that many are anxiously awaiting. It will be the Colorado Avalanche with a home-ice advantage against the Edmonton Oilers.
Colorado has been one of the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup all season long, and they have suffered just two losses in the postseason. Edmonton has had to do some work to get to this point, but the Oilers have been extremely impressive as well.
Colorado is the betting favorite to win the NHL Western Conference, with odds set at -240. Edmonton now has odds set at +195, but they were not even close to that position when the postseason began.
The winner of this series will move on to face either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the winner of the Carolina/New York series.
Kuemper Can Take Over
The Colorado Avalanche has a big advantage in the blue paint in this series as Darcy Kuemper has the ability to completely take over. Kuemper is allowing just 2.4 goals per game so far in the playoffs, and he is also stopping over 90 percent of the shots he faces.
Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with eight postseason goals, but he is just one of many offensive weapons. Colorado can score with all four lines, and they also know how to get the defense involved.
Colorado has a home-ice advantage in this series as well, and that crowd will give them an extra push. Avalanche is a good nickname for this team because they are nearly impossible to stop when they get rolling.
Dynamic Duo Leading Oilers
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl just continue to put up ridiculous offensive numbers, and that has been the case in the playoffs as well. Both players enter this series with 26 points in the postseason, and that line is nearly unstoppable.
Evander Kane has been the recipient of plenty of nice assists as well as he leads all players with 12 goals in the playoffs. Edmonton loves to speed up the tempo on both ends of the ice, but that style sometimes affects their defense.
Goaltender Mike Smith has stopped nearly 93 percent of shots faced in the playoffs, but he will see plenty of action. Smith will have to play the best of his career to give his team a chance.
Avs Roll to Stanley Cup Finals
Edmonton can really score, but playing a fast-paced style of hockey is not usually a very good strategy against the Colorado Avalanche. The Oilers are going to need to find a way to steal a couple of games in this series, and that’s just impossible to do against the Avalanche.
McDavid and Draisaitl might be the two best players in this matchup, but Colorado is clearly the deeper team. The Avalanche have proven that they can win in a number of different ways, and that will be a key in this series.
Bet the Colorado Avalanche -240 as they cruise to a victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals.
Learn how to bet on NHL player props to increase your profits during the rest of the NHL playoffs.
