The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from punching their ticket into the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2022 - their championship winning year.
The Avs dominated the regular season, earned the President's Trophy, swept the L.A. Kings in round one, and won the first two games of the second round, backed by terrific offensive play from Nathan MacKinnon.
The Wild responded back at home in Game 3, however, with a 5-1 win. They took an early 1-0 lead in Game 4 and it was looking like the series could potentially head back to Denver knotted at two.
Colorado locked in and had a wonderful defensive stretch that stalled the Wild offense from late in the first period to well into the second period. Minnesota had no shots on goal for nearly 20 minutes of game time and had just five in the first half of the game.
The absences of Wild defenders Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin have been felt heavily in the series, as Martin Necas and MacKinnon have been unstoppable. Both big defensemen didn't travel for Game 5, and it's looking like they'll miss the entire series - for however long it lasts.
The Avs will want to close this series out at home and avoid a trip back to Minnesota, but it won't be easy against a team on the brink of elimination. Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov had three points in Game 3, but he was virtually invisible in Game 4. Minnesota will need him to lead the offense in Denver.
Ahead of puck drop at 8:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM MT, let's take a look at the goalscorer odds for the crucial Game 5 in Colorado:
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild: Goalscorer Odds - Game 5
Player | Anytime | First | 2+ |
Nathan MacKinnon | -115 | +600 | +400 |
Kirill Kaprizov | +155 | +950 | +900 |
Matthew Boldy | +155 | +950 | +900 |
Martin Necas | +155 | +1000 | +950 |
Gabriel Landeskog | +240 | +1400 | +1800 |
Nazem Kadri | +245 | +1500 | +2000 |
Brock Nelson | +265 | +1600 | +2000 |
Ryan Hartman | +280 | +1650 | +2200 |
Cale Makar | +350 | +2000 | +3300 |
Mats Zuccarello | +390 | +2200 | +4000 |
Valeri Nichushkin | +390 | +2200 | +4000 |
Ross Colton | +450 | +2500 | +5000 |
Nicolas Roy | +500 | +2500 | +6000 |
Logan O'Connor | +500 | +2500 | +6000 |
Marcus Johansson | +525 | +2800 | +6500 |
Quinn Hughes | +550 | +3000 | +6500 |
In our partner authors' expert betting picks and predictions article, they picked Boldy to score (+155). You can read the rest of their picks for Game 5 here.
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All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
