Who doesn't love some high-flying Friday night hockey action? In this edition, the New York Islanders will head to the Windy City to do battle with the Chicago Blackhawks. Join us for our NHL odds series where our Islanders-Blackhawks prediction and pick will be made.
Barely keeping their heads above water at 19-15-10, the Islanders have recently dropped three straight games and five of their last six contests overall. Already with a whopping ten overtime losses, New York desperately needs to start tallying the wins in an ultra-crowded Eastern Conference race!
In opposite fashion, the Blackhawks have accepted the reality that they are in full-blown rebuild mode and are obviously playing for the future. After a trio of losses in a row, Chicago was at least able to come out victorious in a 2-1 shootout win over the lowly San Jose Sharks. Well out of playoff contention at with an overall record of 13-29-2, the Blackhawks will still be fighting hard on Friday evening to instill some pride in that locker room.
Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Islanders-Blackhawks Odds
New York Islanders: -1.5 (+114)
Moneyline: -225
Chicago Blackhawks: +1.5 (-137)
Moneyline: +184
Over: 5.5 (-120)
Under: 5.5 (-102)
How to Watch Islanders vs. Blackhawks
Time: 8:30 ET/5:30 PT
TV: ESPN+
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Islanders Will Cover The Spread/Win
As a starting point to make the case that the Islanders will play well enough to cover the spread this evening, the main thing that New York excels at is through their power-play attack. While their offense at full strength is below the league average in goals scored per game, the same cannot be said about their extra-man attack. Overall, New York scores on 23.1% of their opportunities which is the twelfth-best percentage in all of hockey. At the end of the day, the Islanders will need to generate some noise in this department to give themselves an edge over the Blackhawks on Friday.
If worst comes to worst, then New York will need to receive the ultimate equalizing performance from goaltender Ilya Sorokin. One of the more skilled netminders in the crease when he is at his best, Sorokin will have the opportunity to make a big statement against a Chicago offense that is near the bottom of the barrel in scoring. On paper, the Russian native already has a pair of shutouts next to his name and has posted a .910 save percentage thus far.
Why The Blackhawks Will Cover The Spread/Win
Meanwhile, it isn't impossible for the Blackhawks to win back-to-back games for the first time in over a month and keep it close throughout, but they will have to bring their A-game and be near perfect to have a chance.
Evidently enough, Chicago as a franchise has been in the dumps for multiple years. Even though the Blackhawks are keeping their fingers crossed that number-one overall pick Connor Bedard can bring the organization back into relevance, there is no doubt that this team needs more productivity from other names in this clubhouse. Plus, Bedard is out until at least March with a devastating injury which is surely a tough pill to swallow for this club.
Unlike the Islanders, the Blackhawks' power-play ability is just downright awful. In fact, Chicago sits at a terrible 13.1% conversion rate on the attack which ranks as the second-to-last mark in the NHL. To add even more salt to the wound, the Blackhawks only average 26.2 shots per game and find the back of the net 2.23 times per contest which is simply not going to cut it.
Indeed, this offense needs a spark outside the likes of Bedard, and Chicago could find it with the stick of Philipp Kurashev. At the moment, the 24-year-old Kurashev is second on the team in points with 23 total and may be tasked with being the go-to scorer in the wake of Bedard's absence.
Lastly, the chances of covering the spread may fall on the shoulders of goalie Petr Mrazek who at times has shown the ability to flash the glove in impressive fashion but is often too inconsistent. While his numbers don't stand out by any means, he could end up being the secret formula for Chicago's triumphant chances.
Final Islanders-Blackhawks Prediction & Pick
It appears that the Islanders is the correct selection here. Considering that the Blackhawks enter play on the second night of a back-to-back, fatigue may be a major flaw in Chicago's game. Take New York to win big despite not playing well of late.
Click here for more betting news and predictions
Final Islanders-Blackhawks Prediction & Pick: Islanders -1.5 (+114)
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