The end looked like it may have been drawing near for the Colorado Avalanche in this year’s NHL Playoffs, with the 2022 Stanley Cup champs bumbling their way through three straight losses in the Western Conference semifinals.
The latest defeat at the hands of the Stars came Monday night, when Dallas handed Colorado a 5-1 shellacking in Denver to put the Avs on the brink of elimination. However, the Avalanche finally bounced back on Wednesday night, stealing Game 5 in Dallas with five goals and forcing the series back to Colorado tonight for Game 6.
Right now, oddsmakers from Bet365 Colorado list the Avs as a -120-road favorite on Friday, signaling that all is not yet lost for this year's squad.
Using Sports-Reference.com, BetColorado took a break from evaluating Colorado sportsbooks and wanted to see how often an NHL team wins a second-round playoff series when they’re down 3-2. Using the results of teams down 3-2 in the second round of the past 5 years of playoffs (2018-19 - 2022-23), we found that only 2 teams out of 12 teams won the series after being down 3-2.
Steve Bittenbender contributed to an earlier version of this story.
NHL Teams Down 3-2
Won Series | Lost Series |
17% | 83% |
Over the last half-decade, just two of the twelve teams that trailed a series 3-2 went on to advance, which speaks to the gauntlet that is the NHL’s postseason and just how hard it is to win games in a row during the playoffs.
For Jared Bednar’s team, that tightrope act continues in Colorado Friday evening at 10 p.m. Central time on TNT, as the Avs’ look to force a Game 7 for the Western Conference Finals.
Based on the digital tealeaves dropped by some of the Centennial State’s top sportsbooks, it seems like experts like Colorado’s chances entering Game 6, though history is written to be rewritten so we’ll soon find out whether the Avs’ are up to the task.
Check out our best Colorado sportsbook promo codes and bonuses before betting on the Avs or any team/player.
Author
Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
