Colorado vs Winnipeg Prediction 23 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Avalanche" extend the Western leader's streak of failures? Colorado still can't break out of a pattern of alternating results. Since early January, each victory for the team is inevitably followed by a defeat. The level of opponents and their standings don't matter; the team doesn't play in series. Winnipeg, on the other hand, remains the sole leader of the Western Conference but has hit a negative streak and, for the first time in a long time, suffered two consecutive losses.

📊 Head-to-head

In the current regular season, the opponents have met three times, with the home team always coming out on top. The "Jets" won twice in Manitoba (1:0, 3:0), and the "Avalanche" returned the favor in Denver (5:2). The biggest contribution to his team's success was made by Winnipeg's goalie Connor Hellebuyck. The American managed to "shut out" one of the Western Conference favorites twice. Meanwhile, the most productive player was current guest defenseman Lars Eller, who scored twice in the third game.

⚪ Colorado

Jared Bednar's squad still holds a place in the Western playoff eight, but their position can't be called stable. The club, by and large, is not making significant efforts for tournament growth. The "Avalanche" are stuck in a pattern of alternating results and can't put together even a modest series of successes. This trend continued even against a clearly struggling Minnesota (1:3) after a convincing win over Dallas (6:3). If the home team intends to approach the decisive matches of the regular season and the first round of playoffs in a calm manner, they should accelerate events now.

🍁 Winnipeg

The "Jets" still hold the top spot in the West and even have a small cushion with a three-point lead over Vegas. However, the team's recent results are not encouraging. Scott Arniel's squad lost their last two matches, first to Calgary (1:3) and then to league newcomer Utah (2:5). In both cases, the team looked rather lackluster in attack and created little at the opponent's goal. However, there's no talk of a major slump yet; the team has repeatedly proven it can step up at any moment.

📌 Probable lineups

Colorado: Blackwood - Makar, Toews - Rantanen, MacKinnon, Colton

Winnipeg: Hellebuyck - Morrissey, DeMelo - Connor, Scheifele, Vilardi

🥅 Goalies

Colorado's goalie Mackenzie Blackwood has not lowered his standards since joining the "Avalanche" and remains at a fairly high level. However, he clearly failed in his last two games: he couldn't handle Edmonton's players (85.7%) or Minnesota's (88.5%). Nevertheless, there are no major issues at the last line for the home team. Numerous defeats occur for other reasons.

Winnipeg's goalie Connor Hellebuyck remains one of the most effective players in his position in the league. The American makes a difference on the ice. But even greats have off days sometimes. In the last game, the "Jets" goalie allowed five pucks after 28 shots from Utah players and, for the first time in a long time, didn't maintain a save percentage above 90%.

📝 Editorial prediction

Head-to-head matchups between these teams have long been quite high-scoring. It doesn't matter whether they meet in the regular season or in a Stanley Cup series, as they did last spring. In their last 10 head-to-head games, they have scored no less than five goals. Moreover, their current results stylistically fit this trend. There are practically no "goal droughts" for these teams. We recommend considering a bet on total over 5.5 goals.