Avalanche vs Stars Predictions, Picks & Odds (Saturday, Apr. 4)

• The two best teams in the West clash Saturday when the Colorado Avalanche visit the Dallas Stars

• The NHL-leading Avalanche have lost two of three to the Stars this season

• See my Avalanche vs Stars prediction and updated odds below

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They’re good enough to be the Stanley Cup Final matchup for 2026. Instead, we’re looking at what appears to be a doozy of a second-round preview when the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche (49-15-10, 25-7-5 away) visit the Dallas Stars (45-19-12, 23-10-4 home), the current top two teams in the West.

There’s not much separating these squads in the eyes of the online sportsbooks, naming the Avs slight favorites in the NHL odds.

Puck drop is at 3:30pm ET from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, with ABC and ESPN+ providing the broadcast coverage.

Check out my Avalanche vs Stars prediction and the latest betting odds below.

Avalanche vs Stars Picks and Predictions

Best Bet: Over 5.5 Goals (-140 at FanDuel)

I’m not exactly sure why the books would set this total at 5.5 goals, but happy to take that as my best bet.

This game features the highest scoring team in hockey in the Avalanche, whose 108 points paces the league, while averaging a slick 3.78 goals per contest.

Colorado has won five of its last seven and have been road beasts of late, winning 10 of their last 11 away from home.

Dallas is no slouch, as they are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second-most points in the league with 102. They were in a 2-5-2 rut before goalie Jake Oettinger and company blanked the Jets 3-0 last time out.

The Stars are also quite potent on offense, putting up 3.33 goals per game on the season, which ranks eighth in the league.

Yes, these teams rank 1-2 in goals against, with Colorado leading at 2.53, and Dallas right behind at 2.70, but the track record in their previous head-to-heads suggests that goal scoring will outshine the defensive efforts.

These teams have combined to go Over the total in five of the last six matchups, with all but one line settling in at six goals or more. The Over has also cashed in four of Dallas’ last five home games against teams with a winning record.

For the Avs, the Over has cashed in four of their last five games, including a spectacular goal scoring spectacle the last two games involving Colorado.

They dished it out first, drubbing the Calgary Flames 9-2. They were on the business end of a beating last game, when they were rocked by the lowly Vancouver Canucks 8-6. For those counting at home, that’s 25 goals in two games.

The Over is the path taken in the NHL public betting trends, with a massive 95.2% of the total betting handle pouring in on the OVER, driven by 88.5% of the total tickets.

Avalanche vs Stars Game Odds

Odds as of April 4. The interactive table above will automatically update as the NHL odds move over the course of the day.

The books are essentially calling this a pick’em in the moneyline, with Dallas favored at -105 odds at bet365, while the Avalanche are the betting favorite to win outright, paying out at FanDuel at -110.

They’re also digging in on this being a close encounter, as the odds to stay within two or more goals is available for both teams, with -280 odds for Dallas at DraftKings, while the odds for Colorado to cover +1.5 is at -265 odds.

There’s also a significant fluctuation in the total. Over bettors: get on the FanDuel app and take the total of 5.5 goals, at -140 odds. Conversely, Under bettors should head to DraftKings, where the total is set at 6.5 goals at -135 odds.