Wild vs Avalanche, Odds, Best Bets, and How to Watch

• The Colorado Avalanche, playing without star Nathan MacKinnon, are 1.5-goal favorites going into Thursday’s home game against the Minnesota Wild
• ESPN+ will broadcast the game on February 4, 2021 at 9 PM EST
• See the game odds, spreads, picks, plus a preview below

Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer seeks his fifth consecutive win Thursday when his Colorado team finishes a four-game home-and-home series against the Minnesota Wild

Colorado are 1.5-goal favorites in the Wild vs Avalanche odds. They are 2-0-1 against Minnesota in the first three games of the series. Grubauer beat the Wild 6-1 in Minnesota and 2-1 in the first game in Colorado. In between, the Wild posted a 4-3 overtime win against Colorado backup Hunter Miska in his second NHL start.

Under this season’s competition format, the Wild and Colorado will play each other eight times.

Colorado (7-3-1) owns the best goal-differential (+14) in the West Division, but it still trails the St. Louis Blues for first place. The Wild (6-5) are in third place.

Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche Odds

Odds taken Feb. 3 at DraftKings

Wild Regaining Offensive Spark

Forward Kevin Fiala returns to the Wild lineup Thursday against the Avalanche after sitting out a three-game suspension for boarding Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy.

Fiala could be Minnesota’s fastest player and he opens up the ice for his linemates because opponents must respect his speed.

Fiala on Matt Roy hit that caused 3-game suspension: "I tried to take the puck from him. I didn't mean to hit him at all. I was trying to get around him. I lost balance at the last moment and was moving very fast. I felt very, very bad. It was an accident. Bad play."#mnwild

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 3, 2021

The Wild rank 21st in the NHL with a 2.73 goals per game average. Their primary problem has been on the power play where they own a 7.6% efficiency. That ranks dead last. By contrast, the Avalanche boast a 26.9% power play efficiency.

Another Minnesota bright spot on offense this season has been rookie Kirill Kaprizov who has three goals and nine points in 11 games. Joel Eriksson Ek, with five goals and nine points, could be in the midst of a breakout season.

Avalanche Strong at Both Ends

A look at the NHL team goals-for and against statistics explain why many people believe the Avalanche have a strong chance of winning the Stanley Cup.

In the early going, the Avalanche are outscoring opponents by more than 1.25 goals per  game.

Grubi & Cale appreciation tweet! 👊#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/BX0Jh2HrK9

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 29, 2021

Through 11 games, the Avalanche rank 10th at 3.45 goals per game and sit 2nd at 2.18 goals-against per game. They give up only 26.4 shots per game, which is the fourth fewest in the NHL.

Colorado Star Sidelined for Weeks

Avalanche No. 1 center Nathan MacKinnon (two goals, 12 assists ) will be out “week to week” with an undisclosed injury,  Colorado coach Jared Bednar announced this week.

MacKinnon, tied for third in the scoring race, was injured in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Wild and didn’t play in Colorado’s Tuesday 2-1 win against Minnesota.

Colorado has been hit hard by injuries in the early going: left wing Matt Calvert (upper body), defenseman Erik Johnson (upper body), center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare  (lower left leg), defenseman Devon Toews (foot), and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) are all hurt. Calvert and Francouz are on injured reserve.

No update on Jared Spurgeon's health from coach Dean Evason. "Not ruled in, not ruled out" for tomorrow, he says#mnwild

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 3, 2021

Meanwhile, Wild captain Jared Spurgeon joins a lengthy list of Minnesota injured. He left Tuesday’s loss to Colorado with an injury. However, the Wild haven’t offered any details or prognosis about his injuries.

Minnesota’s injured include defenseman Matt Dumba (lower body) and forward Marcus Johansson (upper body). However, forward Mats Zuccarello (upper body) is on the long-term injury list and Marcus Foligno is on the COVID-19 list.

Signs Favor Avalanche as Best Bet

Grubauer is 5-2 in his career against Minnesota. Even with MacKinnon out, the Avs still have an explosive offense and are the best bet. The loss of Spurgeon, after the loss of Dumba, would undermine Minnesota’s defensive effectiveness.  Dumba and Spurgeon routinely play more than 20 minutes per game for the Wild.

Pick: Avalanche -1.5 (+155)