Premium NHL Pick : January 6

We have decided to write only one premium pick tonight as the rest of the games look too risky.

New York Islanders @ Colorado Avalanche:

First meeting between these teams this season. Avalanche are one of the few teams that started the season really good. They had an amazing start with young players like Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly. They had some inconsistency at times but they are still leading the northwest with 54 points. They have won three of their last five games and the final victory for them was against the Columbus Blue Jackets on road. They scored a late third period goal to beat the Jackets 3-. Last time they played at the Pepsi Center, they won against the Dallas Stars with a score of 4-1.

Isles are coming off a win against one of the worst teams in the NHL, the Atlanta Thrashers. It was no surprise they scored 6 goals against the Thrashers and still allowed 5 goals. That's how the Thrashers play hockey these days. That was the second road win for this team in last five games. Their only loss came in Ottawa when they lost 2-3.

Islanders are most likely going to be without Bergenheim, Jackman, Martinek, Reich and Thompson tonight. (Bergenheim has some chance to play tonight.)

The biggest news for the Islanders, regarding injuries is that their All Star goaltender Rick DiPietro has been practicing and he is closing on a return. His return will definitely have a good impact on this team. Although, Roloson did pretty good in his absence. DiPietro is not expected to start tonight and Roloson will still be in goal.

Avalanche are without forwards Jones and Svatos as well as defender Salei who has been out for a long time. They will start with Craig Anderson again. Anderson has the most saves in the entire league and he is 20-10-5 this season. He hasn't allowed more than 3 goals since December 19 and he has played big roles in wins.

Avalanche looked good to me against the Blue Jackets. They had 37 shots on goal which is a remarkable improvement for this team. Their average is 26 shots on goal which is the worst in the NHL. It looks like they are making some adjustments.

Islanders have also won 3 of their last 5 games but they have not been good against the Colorado Avalanche in recent seasons. They don't really meet often but in the last 10 games in Colorado , Avs are 8-1-1 against them.

I like how the Avalanche plays on home ice and they are 11-5-2 this season They are also 4-2-0 in last 10 games. Islanders are 7-10-6 on road this season. Their penalty killing has been good too,as  they have allowed only one powerplay goal in the last five games. Islanders might have a hard time against the Avs penalty killing as they have been suffering on powerplays lately. Isles have scored only one goal on 17 powerplay attempts in last five games.

For the Avalanche Stastny, Wolski and Hejduk are points leaders. Matt Duchene has 4 points in last 4 games and he has been playing better of late.

Avs will be on road after this game. They will play three difficult road games in Carolina, Buffalo and Calgary. So this game is important for them to start a potentially difficult road trip.I am expecting the Avs to win this one in regulation.

PREMIUM NHL PICK: COLORADO AVALANCHE TO WIN [3 way betting-Regulation only]

2.00@ Bodog.com

Outcome: