Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders Predictions, Picks & Odds

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In today’s NHL matchups, we’ll see the Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders for a big Metropolitan Division faceoff. The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently ranked fourth in the division but come into this game on a two-game loss streak. They come into the matchup off a 6-4 loss against the Boston Bruins, but will be looking to get back into winning form against the Islanders tonight.

The New York Islanders come into the match off a ten-game winning streak. They are currently ranked second in the division but also have two games in hand. Their last game saw them put four goals past the Ottawa Senators while conceding only one. The Senators aren’t quite the opposition that the Penguins will prove to be, so will the Islanders be able to keep their winning streak intact?

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders Predictions

Well, before we get into our predictions, here are some of the facts and stats we looked at while making our predictions:

The Pittsburgh Penguins come into the game with a record of 8-6-1. Their record in their last 10 matches has been pretty average with 5-4-1 and they are pretty even at the moment while playing away, with a record of 3-3-0. As mentioned above, they come into this game off a loss against the Bruins, which saw them concede six.
Matt Murray is expected to be Pittsburgh’s starting goaltender tonight. Most of the Penguins wins have come with him on the ice. This season so far, he has posted a goals against average of 2.35 and a save percentage of .917. Tristan Jarry replaced him against Boston after he let in three goals.
The New York Islanders come into the game with a record of 11-3-0. As mentioned above, they have won their last ten straight and have a home record of 7-2. The Islanders enter this matchup off a win against the Senators who are not exactly tough opposition at the moment. En route, however, they did rack up wins against the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets as well.
Semyon Varlamov is expected to start tonight. He comes into the game with a record of 5-2, a goals against average of 2.14 and a save percentage of .929. His last game was against the Sabres in which he earned himself his first shutout for the season. If Varlamov doesn’t play, Thomas Greiss will take the helm, and he has got a record of 6-1-0, a goals against average of 2 and a save percentage of .937.
Offensively, the Penguins outrank the Islanders in all major stats expect shooting percentage and power play percentage.
Defensively, the Islanders rank first in the league for goals allowed per game but are beaten by the Penguins in pretty much everything else.

With all that said, here are our predictions for Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders:

Moneyline – we’re going with the Islanders. They’re clearly on a win-streak and have taken down tough opposition by shutting them out. Their streak has got to come to an end sometime but we don’t think that it will be with the Penguins who seem to be struggling a bit.

Kim’s NHL Prediction Record so far: 24-23