The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche battle in Game 6 of a Western Conference best-of-7 first-round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday. The opening puck drop at Ball Arena in Denver will be at 9:30 p.m. ET (TBS). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Stars vs. Avalanche odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.

Series: Stars lead 3-2

Dallas banged out a 6-2 triumph in Game 5 on Tuesday to get within a win of a series clinch. The Stars took a 1-0 lead nine seconds into the game and never looked back in what was a wire-to-wire win on home ice.

Colorado, which lost 3 home games against the Stars in a 2024 playoff series, dropped Game 5 after clocking a 4-0 victory at home in Game 4. The Avalanche had yielded just 7 goals over the previous 4 games of the series; the 6 goals allowed in Game 5 marked the most Colorado has allowed in a single game since Nov. 25.

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Stars at Avalanche odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:09 a.m. ET.

Moneyline: Stars +150 (bet $100 to win $150) | Avalanche -180 (bet $180 to win $100)Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Stars +1.5 (-165) | Avalanche -1.5 (+140)Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -125 | U: +105)Stars at Avalanche projected goalies

Jake Oettinger (regular season: 36-18-4, 2.59 GAA, .909 SV%, 2 SO) vs. Mackenzie Blackwood (28-21-6, 2.55 GAA, .912 SV%, 4 SO)Oettinger has started all 5 games of the series. He coughed up 4 goals in the series opener, but has logged a .929 SV% in 4 games since.

Blackwood has also been between the pipes in all 5 games. In Game 5, though, he was pulled after 40 minutes and 5 Dallas goals. He has logged a .909 SV% in his first career playoff series.

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Stars at Avalanche picks and predictionsPrediction

Avalanche 4, Stars 3

Colorado is 3-1 in its last 4 home games against Dallas.

In the back end of the season and in this series, the Avs sport the better 5-on-5 analytics. They are out-chancing the Stars by a mile. Since their Jan. 29 meeting, Colorado has been beaten by a multi-goal margin just 5 times. In the next game out, the Avs went 4-1-0.

In the regular season, Oettinger registered a .920 SV% at home and an .896 mark on the road. Blackwood has acquitted himself well in the series and should bounce back strong. He filed a 2-game .925 SV% against Dallas in the regular season.

BET THE AVALANCHE (-180).

There is a lean on the Over in this contest, but Oettinger in goal makes for enough respect to generate a PASS here unless the return for Colorado gets a bump.

The 5-on-5 expected-goal figures for this series lean toward more scoring. Both sides have some playing-on-one-day rest figures that lean toward more scoring also.

TAKE THE OVER 6 (-125).

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