Avalanche vs Kings Prediction, Prop Picks & Starting Goalies (March 2nd)

• The Avalanche are a -172 road moneyline favorite over the Kings on Monday, March 2nd
• Colorado is tops in the NHL, while Los Angeles just fired head coach Jim Hiller
• See my Avalanche vs Kings predictions below, plus prop pick and lineups

The NHL’s best squad, the Colorado Avalanche, invades Los Angeles to do battle with the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. LA has been mired in a slump, dropping six of eight to get head coach Jim Hiller the heave ho, replaced by interim HC D.J. Smith.

Colorado (39-10-9, 31-27 ATS, first in Central, 87 pts) square off against Los Angeles (24-21-14, 21-38 ATS, sixth in Pacific, 62 pts). All is not lost in Tinseltown, with the Kings just three points back of the final Wild Card spot in the West.

Action is set to get underway at 7:30 pm PT / 10:30 pm ET from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, with ESPN+ providing coverage in the United States.

Avalanche vs Kings Prediction

• Colorado Avalanche Puckline (+150 at DraftKings)

My Avalanche vs Kings prediction is pointing towards Colorado running away with this one. In each of their last eleven victories, Colorado has come out on top by at least two markers. In the previous eight battles between these two Western Conference foes, Colorado has won by at least two markers, with five wins by three or more goals.

Per the NHL odds, our SBD formula has the NHL’s top squad holding serve 3.51-2.73, which points to over 5.5 goals being scored between the Avalanche vs Kings. The Kings are in disarray, dropping six of eight and ten of 15, which got head coach Jim Hiller a pink slip, as he was fired by the organization.

While the goaltending matchup hasn’t been confirmed yet, it’s expected to be Mackenzie Blackwood (COL) vs Anton Forsberg (LA). Blackwood has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his last seven starts. Forsberg should start over Darcy Kuemper (illness) – prior to a shutout against the Flames, Forsberg coughed up four or five goals in his three previous times hitting the ice.

In the Stanley Cup Odds, the Avalanche are the +350 favorite, while the Kings are lagging well behind at +6000.

COL vs LAK Season Stats/Ranks

Colorado is absolutely dominant, scoring the most goals and allowing the least amount. In a truly perplexing statistic, the Avs are the worst team on the man advantage this season, which is mind-boggling, given they’re tops in lighting the lamp.

The Kings have been poor on both special teams units, and haven’t been able to put the puck in the net. Their only saving grace is a solid crease, surrendering the eighth least amount of snipes per outing.

Avalanche vs Kings Prop Pick

• Cale Makar Anytime Goal Scorer (+247 at DraftKings)

For a prop bet, I’m going on a little bit of a limb with Cale Makar to light the lamp. He’s tied for fourth among blueliners in goals, with 17, and he’s coming off a duel with the Blackhawks that saw him tickle the twine twice. In his previous nine skirmishes with the Kings, Makar has found the back of the net on five occasions.

What I love most is that you can snag Makar at odds longer than the top ten players on the board, presenting tremendous value. If you want to get spicy and parlay the Avs to win on the puckline with Makar to snipe, that total pays out a cool +540.

Avalanche vs Kings Odds

The Avs are currently -172 moneyline favorites and are laying 1.5 goals on the puck line at +146. LA comes back as a +142 underdog, while the total currently sits at 5.5 goals at FanDuel.

The implied win probability of COL at -172 is 63.2%. You’d need to wager $172 on the favorites to win $100, while a $100 bet on the underdogs clears $142.

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 4:30 p.m. ET on March 2nd

Avalanche vs Kings Projected Lineups

Colorado Projected Lineup

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas

Artturi Lehkonen – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin

Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Victor Olofsson

Zakhar Bardakov – Parker Kelly – Gavin Brindley

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski

Goaltenders

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Injuries and Scratches: Joel Kiviranta (concussion), Logan O’Connor (hip)

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Forwards

Artemi Panarin – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe

Alex Turcotte – Quinton Byfield – Alex Laferriere

Warren Foegele – Kenny Connors – Corey Perry

Jeff Malott – Samuel Helenius – Taylor Ward

Defense

Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke

Mikey Anderson – Cody Ceci

Jacob Moverare – Brian Dumoulin

Goaltenders

Anton Forsberg

Erik Portillo

Injuries and Scratches: Drew Doughty (lower-body), Darcy Kuemper (illness), Kevin Fiala (lower-body), Andrei Kuzmenko (meniscus), Joel Armia (upper-body), Trevor Moore (illness)