Apparently, the New York Islanders didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to stink this season after losing superstar forward John Tavares in free agency. The Isles are right on the heels of the division-leading Washington Capitals as they face off Friday with the Caps solid home NHL betting favorites.
Islanders vs Capitals NHL Week 16 Odds, Preview & Pick
Two 🚨🚨 for our captain tonight! #Isles pic.twitter.com/c891igwucp
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) 18 de enero de 2019
- When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Capital One Arena
- TV: NHL Center Ice
- Live Stream: NHL.tv
- Radio: Tunein.com
- NHL Week 16 Odds: Washington Capitals -173 / New York Islanders +156 (Total 6)
Season Series
Second meeting. The Caps beat the visiting Islanders 4-1 on Nov. 26. Tom Wilson scored twice, and Braden Holtby stopped 32 shots. That was new Islanders coach Barry Trotz’s first game against the Caps, whom he, of course, led to last season’s Stanley Cup title.
Trotz also guided Washington to the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and then resigned in a contract dispute and subsequently signed with Islanders. Nic Dowd and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington. Valtteri Filppula scored and Thomas Greiss finished with 20 saves for the Islanders, who were playing for the fourth time in six days.
Why Bet on NY Islanders?
Second of a back-to-back for the Islanders as they hosted New Jersey on Thursday. With the trade deadline approaching, there’s talk the Isles are shopping Jordan Eberle as his six-year, $36 million contract closes out. Eberle is overpaid but has a solid 10 goals and 21 points in 41 games in 2018-19.
“It’s on my mind, but it’s out of your control, really,” said Eberle. “… It’s not up to me. The best I can do is try and play well and keep helping us try and win hockey games. It’s been fun being a part of this. We’re a good team. We’re surging for first place right now. We feel we have the group to do it. So I’ve enjoyed it.”
Eberle scored his 200th career NHL goal on Tuesday. Eberle scored 165 in seven seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and has potted 35 in two seasons with the Islanders. With Valtteri Filppula and Eberle each scoring their 10th goals of the season on Tuesday, the Islanders now have eight players in double-digits. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson lead the team with 16 goals, while Mathew Barzal (13), Anthony Beauvillier (12), Casey Cizikas (11) and Josh Bailey (10) all have at least 10.
Trotz said the scoring depth is a result of his team buying into a new philosophy and a new system.
“They’ve come in and been given roles and they’ve accepted those roles and produced in those roles,” Trotz said. “That’s all you can ask as a coach, be a contributing player.”
The Islanders penalty kill is a perfect 10-for-10 over the past three games. They are 6-0-0 in the second of a back-to-back this season, which is amazing.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.04
- Shots: 28.09
- PP/PK Percentage: 16.79
Defense
- Goals: 2.59
- Shots: 30.74
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.48
Why Bet on Washington?
The Caps are on a rare three-game skid following a 7-2 loss in Nashville on Tuesday. T.J. Oshie scored a goal. Playing in his 700th career game, Oshie got a consolation goal with the Capitals down 7-1 late in the game when he took advantage of a Roman Josi blunder. It’s Oshie’s 14th goal of the season, bringing him to 21 points in 35 games this season. Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Caps in the blowout loss.
Since joining the Capitals in 2015-16, Oshie has recorded 91 goals in 257 games to rank second on the Capitals (Alex Ovechkin: 165) and his 17.0 shooting percentage ranks fourth in the NHL among players with at least 200 games played. Oshie’s 14 goals this season are tied for third on the Capitals and his 51.36 on-ice shot attempt percentage (454 shot attempts for and 430 against) at five-on-five rank first among Capitals forwards. Oshie is 16 points shy of 500 career points.
Pheonix Copley allowed seven goals on 29 shots. With Braden Holtby nursing an eye injury, Copley got starts in back-to-back nights and was left hanging for all seven goals as the Capitals wanted to avoid turning to Holtby in this game. Washington’s backup netminder is now 10-4-3 with a 2.91 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage. It’s not yet known if Holtby (eye) will start on Friday.
Ovechkin is seven points shy of passing Sergei Fedorov (1,179) for the most points in NHL history by a Russian-born player. Ovechkin leads the NHL with 33 goals this season as he aims to break a tie with Hull for the most seasons as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader. Both have led the League in goals on seven occasions.
Ovechkin’s most recent goal, scored on Monday against the St. Louis Blues, was scored on the power play, his 238th career power-play goal. Ovechkin passed Brendan Shanahan (237) for fifth place on the all-time power-play goals list. Ovechkin is now one goal shy of passing Dave Andreychuk (640) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.41
- Shots: 29.52
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.58
Defense
- Goals: 3.02
- Shots: 32.20
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.82
Islanders vs Capitals NHL Week 16 Betting Trends
- Home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings
- Under is 5-2 in Capitals last 7 home games
- NY is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
- NY is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Islanders’s last 9 games on the road
- Washington is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games at home
- Washington is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington’s last 7 games at home
Expert NHL Betting Prediction for Islanders vs Capitals
Capitals win 5-3.
