Take On The Total As Avalanche Take On Hockey Club

Avalanche vs. Hockey Club, 9:30 ET

The NHL takes a nice three-day vacation every year around Christmas. I kind of like it as they aren't forcing games. The NBA owns Christmas (at least according to LeBron James) and in reality, the NFL games were worthless and forced. Giving a bit of a break to the NHL guys feels like a nice gesture. Nonetheless, I like having more sports to watch, so I did miss it a bit over the past few days even if hockey isn't the primary sport that I watch. With the return tonight I have a game that I like between the Avalanche and the Utah Hockey Club.

Colorado is off to a decent enough start with a 21-15-0 record. Seems kind of difficult for a team to have this many games under their belt for the season and no overtime games, but here we are. They've played better on the road than they have at home this season, with a 12-7-0 road record. They probably were not looking forward to having the break as they were 4-1 over their past five games. Their defense has been on point lately as well, in those five games, they gave up three goals just once. The other four games, all wins, they allowed just two goals in each of their wins. The offense was rolling as well, putting the puck in the net at least four times in each of the wins. Overall, the team has seven wins of the last 10 games. Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to be in the net for this game. For the season, he is just 9-10-3 overall with a 2.83 goals against per game average and a .914 save percentage. His record is more of a reflection of the start of his season with San Jose. The other numbers are the ones that stand out the most to me. Since coming over to Colorado, Blackwood has allowed two goals in each game and is 3-1. 

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 24: Jack McBain #22 of the Utah Hockey Club celebrates scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on November 24, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Utah Hockey Club… let me address this really quickly because I haven't written about them to this point in the season - has to change their name and branding. The Hockey Club? Come on, this is like the Washington Football Team, which changed their name for a number of reasons, and kept that name for one year because of people trying to get rich quick on branding and website ideas that the team might consider. I don't know if this is the same situation, but the team looks boring and the name is stupid. They had plenty of time to do better, but they did nothing. So much for the excitement around a new team. Utah has done pretty well overall for a just-launched franchise, going 16-12-6 right now. Similar to the Avalanche the Hockey Club was actually playing pretty well before this mini break. They won four of their past six games and six of their last nine games. They did lose their two most recent games, and both were at home where they haven't played all that well. They are 5-6-4 at home, so still competitive, but not exactly winning those games. They are likely to have Karel Vejmelka in the net today. He has an 8-8-2 record for the season, but is top-5 in goals allowed at 2.33 per game and save percentage with a .917 clip. 

This is the third time that these two teams are facing off already this year. Neither of the first two games were all that close with the Avalanche winning the first game 5-1 and Utah taking the second 4-1. I think we are probably going to see a similar situation here with the Avalanche winning by margin. I would rather play the puck line than the moneyline if you take the Avalanche. My play is on the under 6.5 though. Two good goalies should keep this under seven total goals. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024