Both the oddsmakers and “experts” picking Stars over Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche will face the Dallas Stars in Round 2 of the NHL playoffs, something we finally learned on Sunday night.

The Avs have been resting since last Tuesday, after scoring 28 goals in five games and taking down the Winnipeg Jets. Meanwhile, Dallas needed all seven contests against the Vegas Golden Knights, pulling out a 2-1 win in the decisive finale to advance to the second-round.

So, you’d think the fresher Colorado team would be the favorite over Dallas, right?

Not so fast.

Both the oddsmakers and 24 “experts” from ESPN lean toward the Stars in this series, but not in overwhelming fashion.

Let’s start with the folks in the desert, who have handicapped the series pretty closely. They say the chances Colorado moves on are +105 at one popular sportsbook, meaning a $100 bet would net you $105 if the Avalanche head to the Western Conference Final. On the other side, Dallas is -125, meaning you’d have to wager $125 to earn $100. It’s a slim margin.

What’s perhaps a little more surprising, is the hockey panel at ESPN leaning toward the Stars. 17 of the 24 folks surveyed have Dallas getting to the NHL’s Final Four.

Fans will recognize a couple of the names who picked Colorado, including John Buccigross (Avs in seven) and Ryan S. Clark (Avs in seven).

Other top personalities like Linda Cohn (Star in seven), Ray Ferraro (Stars in six), Emily Kaplan (Stars in seven), Steve Levy (Stars in seven), Mark Messier (Stars in six) and P.K. Subban (Stars in six) took Dallas.

The Avalanche players don’t need any more fuel. They got plenty of that after the panic following a Game 1 loss to Winnipeg in which goaltender Alexandar Georgiev gave up seven goals. “Georgie” was much better the rest of the series, the Colorado offense exploded, and the Avs won four straight.

We’ll see how it shakes out, but for now, it looks like the Avalanche have a chance to pull another “upset.”