The NHL season is set to begin this week with one of the pre-season favorites for the Stanley Cup as the Colorado Avalanche travel to take on the Los Angeles Kings in the opening game.
Last season Colorado disappointed in the playoffs as they were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Stars in a best-of-seven series, and they will be keen to put that right this year. The Kings also got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, as they fell to defeat by the Edmonton Oilers.
We’ll break down the matchup between the two sides and provide you with our best free NHL betting picks, as we try to earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the ice.
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The Avalanche had a strong season in 2024/25 where many expected them to go far, but after making it to the playoffs they were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Stars in disappointing fashion.
In the off-season they have now added Brent Burns to the defensive line and extended the contract of Brock Nelson, keeping their roster strong and together for another season. Gabriel Landeskog is also likely to be available again as he returns off the back of a full off-season following his injury problems last season.
So far in pre-season, Colorado have had a solid runout too. Head coach Chris MacFarland led the team to a dominant victory in their first game against the Utah Mammoth, as they claimed a 5-1 win. They then had three back-to-back games at home where they took on Utah again, and claimed a narrow 3-2 win next.
Their next game saw them go against Dallas where they racked up a convincing 4-1 win, before hosting the Vegas Golden Knights and claiming a 4-2 win. Their next two games didn’t go so well, though.
A trip to the T-Mobile Arena to take on Vegas saw them fall to a disappointing 2-1 defeat, before a trip to Dallas saw them lose 3-2 in their final game before the season opener.
The Kings were right in the mix for the playoffs once again last season, but struggled and fell out at the first round of the post-season due to a 4-2 series defeat to the Edmonton Oilers.
Head coach Ken Holland will be looking to improve this time around, and Los Angeles will be hopeful of being able to send off team captain Anze Kopitar with a successful campaign after he announced that he would retire at the end of the season.
Their pre-season campaign has been strong in the build up to this game, with the Kings going 5-2 in the process.
Los Angeles’ first game came at home to the Anaheim Ducks, where they claimed a comfortable 3-1 win, before travelling to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights, where they then picked up a second 3-1 victory of their pre-season.
The third game brought another victory, this time 3-0 against the Ducks, before they took Anaheim on for a third time and this time fell to a disappointing 5-3 defeat. A home game against the Utah Mammoths came next, where the team earned a 3-2 win, before they fell to another disappointing defeat in their next game against the Mammoth, 2-1.
Last time out the team took on Anaheim once more and the game was forced to go to overtime after a 4-4 score in regular time, before they picked up the late win to end pre-season on a high.
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Both of these teams come into this game with their rosters looking largely similar to what they did last year, barring the odd change.
That means there is unlikely to be major changes in the way they approach games or play, which means we can probably look a lot at last season’s numbers for an idea of how this may go.
Colorado scored an impressive 273 goals last season, for the sixth-best attacking unit in the NHL with an average of 3.3 goals per game. Alternatively, they conceded 231 goals in the season, ranking them 11th in the league with an average of 2.8 per game.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, scored 249 goals in the 2024/25 season, giving them the NHL’s 14th-best-ranked offense with an average of 3.0 goals per game. Defensively, the Kings were one of the best in the league, conceding just 203 total goals, making them the second-best-ranked team.
The numbers suggest that the Under is very much in play, and at +105, there is excellent value for it to come in. The season openers usually see teams start a little bit slower, too, as they get back into the mix, so take it while you can.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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