{"id":388589,"date":"2026-01-03T15:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/388589\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T15:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:50:15","slug":"nhl-predictions-jan-3-colorado-avalanche-vs-carolina-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/388589\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Jan 3 Colorado Avalanche vs Carolina Hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Carolina Hurricanes. Don\u2019t forget to check out more <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/nhl-predictions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NHL Predictions<\/a>, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<p>We also want to wish everyone a Happy and safe New York. Here\u2019s to 2026.<\/p>\n<p>NHL Predictions<br \/>\nMontreal Canadiens vs St Louis Blues<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"ppctY0gmRl9xndEd-uvelg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2250870758\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Head-to-Head: Canadiens 0-1 Blues<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/full-guide-for-how-to-stream-and-watch-nhl-hockey-games\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How to Watch<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/news\/amazon-prime-video-2025-26-monday-night-hockey-schedule\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766936240_316_PRIMN_25_OOHDisplayAdBanner_Desktop_728x90_POST_Final_en-CA_PV00045914_Monday.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>US TV: Fan Duel Sports Midwest; ESPN+<\/p>\n<p>Canada TV: TSN2; RDS<\/p>\n<p>Time: 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescore.com\/nhl\/events\/31763\" target=\"_blank\">We open up<\/a> NHL predictions with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/12\/30\/nhl-predictions-dec-30-montreal-canadiens-vs-florida-panthers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Montreal Canadiens<\/a> taking on the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/12\/17\/nhl-predictions-dec-17-winnipeg-jets-vs-st-louis-blues\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> St Louis Blues.<\/a> Montreal is expected to start <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dobesja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-03_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jakub Dobes<\/a> in goal but always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. The Canadiens are 6-1-3 in their previous 10 games, including victories in three of their last four games. Olympic snub <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/caufico01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-03_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cole Caufield<\/a> leads the team in goals with 20 so far this campaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/binnijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-03_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jordan Binnington<\/a> is the projected starter for the Blues after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hoferjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-03_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Joel Hofer<\/a> got the 4-3 win against the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/12\/11\/nhl-predictions-dec-11-vegas-golden-knights-vs-philadelphia-flyers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Vegas Golden Knights.<\/a> St Louis did beat Montreal, 4-3, on December 7. The Blues are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games entering this matchup. St Louis has struggled to score this season but did get four goals on Friday. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/neighja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-03_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jake Neighbours<\/a> is first on the team in goals with 10.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams are coming off wins on Friday. However, Montreal should even up the season series.<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Canadiens win 3-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey look at the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5116],"tags":[193,1775,192,144,1314,5277,5,1776,33100,4,33535,1113],"class_list":{"0":"post-388589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-colorado-avalanche","8":"tag-avalanche","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes-predictions","10":"tag-colorado","11":"tag-colorado-avalanche","12":"tag-colorado-avalanche-predictions","13":"tag-coloradoavalanche","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-montreal-canadiens-predictions","16":"tag-new-york-islanders-predictions","17":"tag-nhl","18":"tag-st-louis-blues-predictions","19":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs-predictions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115831965334733655","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}