Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets November 5 Betting Preview

There are silver linings to be found in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. However, it might not seem that way when Mikko Rantanen scored a hat trick and an assist, and Nathan MacKinnon had four assists for the Avs.

We'll get to those CBJ silver linings, as they could be the key to getting a win against the defending Stanley Cup Champions and continued success after they return to Ohio from Finland.

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Colorado Avalanche Betting Preview

So, the Colorado Avalanche powerplay is pretty good, after all. The Avs went two for five on the power play, getting goals from Mikko Rantanen and J.T. Compher to bring the Avs powerplay to thirteen goals on the season and a league-best 39.4% average.

Colorado's penalty-killing unit continues to be one of the significant weaknesses of the defending champions. After giving up a powerplay goal to the worst powerplay in the league, the penalty killers shut down CBJ's six other opportunities bringing their powerplay average to 72.5%, ranking them twenty-seventh in the league.

We will likely have a battle of the backups in game two in Finland. That means Pavel Francouz will get the start for the Avs. Francouz enters Saturday's game with a 0-3-0 record, with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.

Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Preview

Columbus Blue Jackets fans, we have some good news in the silver linings to report from Friday night's 6-3 loss.

Simply put, we did it y'all! It took only ten games, twenty-seven powerplays, one of the worst penalty-killing units in the league, and public shaming from us, but the Columbus Blue Jackets have finally scored a powerplay goal!

One is better than none, and that powerplay goal moves CBJ's powerplay percentage to 3.1 percent (1/32). Columbus' penalty killers had the anticipated issues with the Avalanche's league-best power play, giving up to powerplay goals and dropping their penalty-killing percentage to 78.4%. After the 6-3 loss, CBJ are now averaging 2.64 goals per game and 4.55 goals against.

Sure, CBJ isn't going to compete for a Stanley Cup this season. Still, if they show that kind of competitiveness and determination throughout the season, that is nothing but positive for the franchise going forward.

Daniil Tarasov will get the start in game two against the Avs, entering play with a 1-3-0 record, posting a 3.57 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage.

Avalanche vs. Blue Jackets Odds

The Colorado Avalanche are the betting favorite on the money line, including overtime, with (-250) odds.

Our Prediction

The Colorado Avalanche should win this game and extend the Blue Jackets' losing streak to five. We're picking the Avs to win on the moneyline. However, we liked the Blue Jackets' effort on Friday and would pick them to cover the spread. 

And with nine goals in the first game and backups starting the second, we'll take the over.

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