NHL league after the All-Star weekend is gaining momentum again and teams are fighting for playoff spots. A match awaits between two teams whose performance this season is incomparably different. The Senators, with 47 points, are ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference and probably no longer have a chance to make the playoffs. Meanwhile, Avalanche with 64 points are currently 4th in the Western Conference, and winning a few games in a row could potentially move them higher.
Ottawa Senators
In terms of lineup, this is one of the weakest teams in the entire league, and the 14th place quite realistically reflects their capability. The team, playing at home, has a negative win-loss record (12 and 15). But that's not all. Their home form over the last 10 games is the worst in the league. They lost 9 and won only 1 game. During these games, they conceded 38 and scored only 27 goals. The team is currently not in the best condition. One of the reasons is injured players. Callahan, Gaborik, Nillson, Ryan, Namestnikov – all of them are important to the team, but they will not be able to participate in these games.
Colorado Avalanche
On the other side, we have a team that has the potential to perform exceptionally well this season. The team's star MacKinnon is playing impressively and can single-handedly determine the outcome of the game. This team does not have an away game syndrome and in terms of away performance, they look the best in the entire Western Conference. Out of 26 games, they won 15 and lost 11. Also, they scored 90 goals and conceded only 71. These statistics show that the team demonstrates the best defense when playing away, and their offense also looks very good. In this match, we will not see Wilson in the Avalanche lineup, so there are almost no injury problems.
Choice
So, we choose the victory of the currently exceptionally well-performing Colorado Avalanche. Injuries in the Senators' lineup and their recent game results do not add any confidence to the team. It seems that in this game they will have problems scoring goals against the especially well-defending Avalanche. The latter should secure a fairly easy victory and continue to climb higher in the Western Conference. The teams last met a year ago, so the H2H factor has little significance. Good luck and enjoy the game!
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