Monday’s Best NHL Bet
Detroit Red Wings at Colorado Avalanche (-130, 5.5)
The lone game on schedule after the 10-day Olympic break has the Avalanche hosting the Red Wings.
Detroit has the bigger adjustment to make. The club surrendered a good portion of its roster, including head coach Mike Babcock, to the international tournament.
"We need to make sure we are ready to come out on Monday and start winning some games, and those guys are a big part of that," assistant Wings coach Paul MacLean told The Detroit News. "I am sure it won't take long for them to come to that understanding."
The coaching staff better hope it doesn’t take too long. Detroit is in a battle just to qualify for the playoffs, and the defending Western Conference champs play 15 games in 30 days beginning on Monday.
"Over the last three years we've played a lot of hockey and, unfortunately, the guys who could have used this break the most went to the Olympics," Wings veteran Kris Draper told reporters.
While the Wings have to worry about reincorporating almost half its lineup, the Avs only have a handful of players to welcome back.
Colorado is healthy and in much better position to restart its engine quickly.
Pick: Avalanche
DETROIT (28-21-0-12, 68 pts.) at COLORADO (35-20-0-6, 76 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 28-33 ATS (-16.2 Units) in all games this season.
DETROIT is 50-40 ATS (-24.1 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 5-10 ATS (-8.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
DETROIT is 4-10 ATS (-9.6 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
COLORADO is 35-26 ATS (+8.8 Units) in all games this season.
COLORADO is 19-13 ATS (+4.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
COLORADO is 11-24 ATS (-17.7 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 10-5-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.3 Units)
DETROIT vs. COLORADO
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Detroit's last 11 games when playing Colorado
Detroit is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Colorado
Colorado is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Detroit
Colorado is 7-18 SU in its last 25 games when playing Detroit