{"id":579567,"date":"2026-05-20T15:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/579567\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:36:19","slug":"golden-knights-vs-avalanche-series-prediction-preview-odds-picks-best-bets-ahead-of-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/579567\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Knights vs. Avalanche series prediction, preview odds, picks, best bets ahead of Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a strange season for the Vegas Golden Knights. <\/p>\n

They stormed out of the gate, coasted through a sluggish winter, and still never seriously risked falling out of the Stanley Cup playoff<\/a> picture thanks to a weak Pacific Division and underwhelming Western Conference.<\/p>\n

The malaise was worrying enough to get the attention of general manager Kelly McCrimmon, and he responded by firing Bruce Cassidy and replacing him with John Tortorella<\/a> with eight games left in the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Knights went 7-0-1 down the stretch and have won eight of 12 games in the postseason, giving them a 15-4-1 record under Tortorella.<\/p>\n

Cassidy\u2019s dismissal wasn\u2019t unwarranted \u2014 Vegas went 4-10-2 in his last 16 games in charge \u2014 but it was a little cruel. <\/p>\n

The Knights were one of the league\u2019s best 5-on-5 teams all season, but their goaltending was a mess. Vegas finished with the fifth-worst save percentage (.879) during the regular season, and it was even worse during the stretch that did cost Cassidy his job.<\/p>\n

It may look like the Knights have clicked into gear under Tortorella, but the only remarkable difference is that Vegas is getting strong goaltending. Carter Hart owns a .915 save percentage and plus-4.2 Goals Saved Above Expected in 12 playoff starts.<\/p>\n

Despite all the positive momentum, the bookmakers remain skeptical of the Golden Knights\u2019 chances against the Colorado Avalanche.<\/p>\n

On the surface, the wide odds for this series make sense. The Avs were the best team in the regular season, finished 26 points ahead of Vegas, and they have won eight of nine in the playoffs. They\u2019re a steamroller. But they\u2019re meeting their match in this series. They\u2019re meeting an immovable object.<\/p>\n

To beat the Avalanche, you need to stop the Avalanche. As the Minnesota Wild just found out, no team in the NHL can skate up and down the ice with Colorado and expect to come out on top.<\/p>\n

\"ColoradoNathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche. Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

That won\u2019t be an issue for the Knights. The last thing Tortorella will want is for his club to get in a track meet with the Avs. A physical, high-IQ team, Vegas will look to turn every shift of this series into a rock fight and come out ahead. And they\u2019ve got the personnel to pull it off. Starting with Jack Eichel.<\/p>\n

While Mitch Marner leads the playoffs in scoring and is playing the most compelling hockey of his career, Eichel\u2019s contributions are flying under the radar. <\/p>\n

Betting on the NHL? <\/p>\n

The former Boston University Terrier is right behind Marner with 15 points, and he\u2019s playing nearly 23 minutes a night against the opposition\u2019s top line. Eichel will likely get the Nathan MacKinnon assignment in this series, and he\u2019s proven capable of handling it.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in agreement that Vegas\u2019 defensive conscience \u2014 no team allowed fewer high-danger scoring chances during the regular season \u2014 makes them a good value play to pull the upset (+210, bet365), then you may as well grab a piece of Eichel to win the Conn Smythe at 25\/1 (bet365) because there\u2019s almost no way the Knights get out of this series without their No. 1 center leading the way.<\/p>\n

The plays: Vegas series moneyline (+210) | Jack Eichel to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (25\/1)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5116],"tags":[193,183,192,144,5277,5,4,351,43,171,352,104,39],"class_list":["post-579567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-colorado-avalanche","tag-avalanche","tag-betting","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-coloradoavalanche","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-betting","tag-sports","tag-sports-betting","tag-sports-picks","tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-vegas-golden-knights"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116607646890679383","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579567","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=579567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}