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Saturday night hockey has finally arrived out on the west coast, and we sure have a barn burner in store tonight! The New York Islanders will put their recent woes behind them as they face off with the dangerous Vegas Golden Knights. With that being said, let's take a look at our NHL odds series where our Islanders-Golden Knights prediction and pick will be made.
After the Islanders saw themselves go down in defeat in devastating fashion once again, New York has now lost three games in a row and are reeling in a big way of late. Most recently, it was the Coyotes that sneaked by the Islanders by a score of 5-4 as Arizona held on in the late stages. Simply put, New York cannot afford to keep losing if they have playoff aspirations.
Unlike New York, Vegas has used their shortcomings from a season ago that saw them miss out on the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Fast forward only a season later, and the Golden Knights find themselves with the most amount of points in the entire Western Conference. Sitting at 22-9-1 after sweeping a mini two-game road trip, Vegas will return home starting tonight to embark on five consecutive home stands.
Here are the Islanders-Golden Knights NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Islanders-Golden Knights Odds
New York Islanders: +1.5 (-188)
Vegas Golden Knights: -1.5 (+152)
Over: 6 (-102)
Under: 6 (-120)
Why The Islanders Could Cover The Spread
Without a doubt, the Islanders have found themselves in a deep rut. Alas, it seems like yesterday that New York vaunted a 15-8 record, they have since lost six of their previous eight games and are on a downward trend heading into this one.
Regardless, this by no means eliminates the talent that the Islanders have in the locker room that is capable of taking over in a swift manner. Entering this contest as +1.5 goal underdogs, the most important aspect of this game that the Islanders need to take advantage in will fall on the shoulders of an offense that did do some good things despite losing to the Coyotes.
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One thing that New York could afford to have a repeat in comes in the form of peppering the goalie with shots on goal. After edging out Arizona 34-29 in the shots department, a similar recipe for success will be needed against a much better Golden Knights squad. While New York jumped out to a 2-0 lead last night, they failed to hold on. Arguably, if the Islanders can start off hot and to not let their feet off of the pedal, then good things will be in store.
In addition, the Islanders have experienced incredible power-play struggles. After going 0-5 on power-play opportunities not even 24 hours ago, this is something that cannot be repeated if they want a chance at covering the spread.
Why The Golden Knights Could Cover The Spread
If there is one thing that could end up biting the Golden Knights in this matchup is the fact that they have surprisingly been mediocre on their home ice. In a head-scratching manner, Vegas has only tallied an 8-7 record overall at T-Mobile Arena. In comparison, the Golden Knights have amassed a very productive 14-2-1 record while serving as visitors, which is also the best road mark in all of hockey. Obviously, limiting the mistakes and getting off to a hot start will go a long way in finding unfamiliar success at home versus the Islanders later tonight.
While few can wrap their heads around why Vegas has shown struggles at home, reversing this trend and covering the spread could end up coming true if they can convert on power plays more frequently. In their latest home game that resulted in a 3-1 loss to the Bruins, Vegas ended up going a measly 1-4 when gaining the extra-man advantage. For a team that has been an above-average group on the power play this season, they still could be more efficient as only 22 goals have been scored with the advantage.
At the same time, let's not forget why the Golden Knights have been so dominant this season in the first place. At first glance, Vegas' willingness to swarm opposing offenses on defense combined with stellar goaltending play will be the main reason that the Knights will cover this evening. Going up against a pedestrian Islanders offensive attack that only averages 3.19 goals per game, keep your eyes peeled on whether or not the net-minder in Logan Thompson can continue his stellar play. In Thompson's 21 starts on the year, he already has posted a pair of shutouts and also boasts a not-too-shabby .918 save percentage.
Final Islanders-Golden Knights Prediction & Pick
Even though Vegas has struggled mightily at home this season, going up against an Islanders unit that comes into Sin City licking their wounds will prove to be the perfect opportunity to right their wrongs.
Final Islanders-Golden Knights Prediction & Pick: Golden Knights -1.5 (+152)
