Free NHL Picks Today: Colorado Avalanche vs St. Louis Blues 11/14/22

The Colorado Avalanche (8-4-1) and their clutch power play offense host the St. Louis Blues (5-8-0), one of the league’s worst penalty killing teams, at Ball Arena on Monday. St. Louis is coming off a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights on Saturday.

Ryan O’Reilly, Brandon Saad, and Ivan Barbashev each scored once for the Blues. O’Reilly added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Jordan Binnington had a great performance with 34 saves (.944%) in the win.

Colorado won for the fourth game in a row, beating the Hurricanes 4-1 on Saturday. Cale Makar scored twice to lead the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists to lead the team in scoring. Pavel Francouz was impressive in the win, making 24 saves (.960%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The teams last met in the second round of last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Avalanche secured their place in the Western Conference Finals with a 3-2 win (4-2 series).

FACING OFF

St. Louis is averaging 2.38 goals per game for the season, worst in the NHL, and they are taking on an Avalanche team that is allowing 2.69 goals a game (7th).

Meanwhile, Colorado has found the net 3.69 times a game on average, second in the league, and will be looking to capitalize on the Blues’ weak defense, which is allowing opponents to score 3.69 goals per game (29th).

The Avalanche will be seeking to add to their No. 1-ranked power play percentage of 39.02% against the Blues, who are the league’s third-weakest penalty killing team (70.83%).

St. Louis, meanwhile, has scored on 20.00% of their power play opportunities (17th), which the away team will be aiming to improve on against Colorado’s 29th-ranked 71.74% penalty killing rate.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Brayden Schenn (12 points), Justin Faulk (11), and Vladimir Tarasenko (10) have been the top skaters this season for the Blues. Tarasenko has been another top performer for St. Louis, scoring four and assisting six.

In the net, Binnington (4-5-0) is St. Louis’ top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 3.33 GAA and a .888% save percentage.Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon lead the Avalanche in scoring with 23 points apiece (9th in the league).

Rantanen has 10 goals (8th in the league) and 13 assists, while MacKinnon has a league-best 19 assists and four goals () in 13 games. Alexandar Georgiev (7-1-1) is the top goalie for Colorado with a goals against average of 2.66. He has a save percentage of .924%.