Vegas Golden Knights (46-17-4) at Colorado Avalanche (45-15-4)
The Golden Knights have won their last two games against the Avalanche to tie this series at 2-2 where the home team has won every game. This game can be seen on NBCSN.
Oddsmakers have the Avalanche as the home favorite at -150 with the Golden Knights posted at +130 and a total of 5.5 goals.
After giving up 10 goals in the first two games of this series, including seven in Game 1, the Golden Knights have outscored the Avalanche 8-3 in winning the last two games. They won in a 5-1 blowout in the last game but they are back on the road in this game and are only 11-27 in their last 38 road games as an underdog.
The Avs have dropped the last two games of this series only totaling three goals. The offense had been more than solid before that and they still lead the NHL in the playoffs averaging 4.13 goals per game.
Colorado has won seven of their last 10 games on home ice against the Golden Knights.
Attack Blows Up
After only scoring six goals in the first three games of this series the solid Vegas attack blew up in their last game in the 5-1 win. Jonathan Marchessault had a hat trick and Max Pacioretty and Patrick Brown also lit the lamp in the win.
The defense played a great game in the Game 4 win only allowing 18 shots while they had 35.
Marc-Andre Fleury (26-10-0 1.98 GAA regular season) stopped 17 of 18 shots faced in the last game. He leads goalies in the playoffs with a 1.79 GAA but has given up five goals in his last two starts. He has started 10 of 11 playoff games and with Robin Lehner out he will be in between the pipes for Game 5.
In the regular season the Golden Knights ranked third in the NHL averaging 3.39 goals per game and in the playoffs they are averaging 2.82 goals per game.
With his hat trick in the last game Marchessault leads Vegas with five playoff goals and four of them have come in the last three games. Max Pacioretty led the team in goals on the season and has three in the playoffs and he has lit the lamp once in each of the last two games.
After winning their first two playoff road games Vegas has lost their last three.
Offense Sputters Again
The Avalanche offense sputtered again in the 5-1 loss and the team that led the NHL in goals per game in the regular season has only scored three goals in the last two games.
Colorado only mustered 18 shots in the last game and Brandon Saad scored the first goal of the game but then Colorado gave up five unanswered goals.
Philipp Grubauer (30-9-1 1.95 GAA) gave up five goals on 35 shots in the last game and he has a post-season GAA of 2.25. He has started every game for the Avs in the playoffs and he had only given up six goals in four starts before giving up eight in his last two starts.
Nathan MacKinnon has the most goals in the playoffs (8) and is tied for the second most points (13) but has no goals and one assist over his last three games. Gabriel Landeskog ranks third in the playoffs with 12 points (4 goals 8 assists) and he has no goals and four assists in his last four games.
The Avs are 38-13 in their last 51 games as a home favorite.
Prediction
The home team has won every game in this series and I look for that to continue. The Avalanche were tied for the most home wins this season and I look for their attack to wake up in this game after only totaling three goals in their last two games. Colorado’s defense will also play better back on home ice, but they will give up some goals. This game will be a pretty high scoring one and with the Colorado offense getting back on track they will get the win and take a 3-2 series lead.
PICK: Avalanche -150