New York Islanders vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
Some of the NHL’s young stars are on display Thursday night in Montreal, as rookie Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders take on the Canadiens.
The two front-runners for the Calder Trophy, Scheafer and Ivan Demidov, return from the Olympic break itching to make their pitch as the league’s top rookie. This will be their first time competing head-to-head on any stage and is sure bring the best out of these young phenoms.
The NHL odds have the Habs listed as the -150 favourite at home. The OVER/UNDER is set at an even 6.0 goals, with puck drop from the Bell Centre set for 7 p.m. EST.
Islanders vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
The Islanders and Canadiens have yet to play each other this season, and with 25 games left on both teams’ schedules, they will meet three times. In a three-game set last season, this matchup was as tight as it gets, all three contests being decided in either overtime or a shootout. The Isles came out ahead in two of those three games, hitting the OVER in both.
The Islanders had won back-to-back games before the break, covering the spread in both outings, putting their record against the spread at 29-27 on the season. They have a 24-29-3 record on the OVER, making the Isles a tough team to get a read on. Their offence ranks 10th-last, scoring just 2.84 goals per game, while their defence scheme is what has put them in a playoff position, allowing just 2.71 per night.
The Habs have been one of the most exciting watches of the season so far, with their emerging stars pushing the teams offence to the third-highest scoring in the league at 3.46 goals a game. Montreal’s defensive game was improve heavily before the season was halted. They were averaging just 2.4 goals against over five games, before the pause.
New York Islanders
Before the break, the Islanders had won two games in a row and six of their past 10, giving themselves a two-point cushion as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division. It’s been an impressive season so far for New York, as nobody expected the team to be in a playoff race, especially after grabbing the first overall draft pick over the summer.
Goaltender Ilya Sorokin has been lights out this season, putting himself as the favourite to win the Vezina Trophy at -120. His six shutouts lead the league, while ranking top 10 in goals-against average, save percentage and total saves. The only other netminder with a shot at the trophy is Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Scheafer is also running away with the Calder Trophy as the -1000 favourite. He ranks third amongst rookies in goals (16), third in points (39) and leads time on ice, averaging just over 24 minutes a night. You can find these odds on our NHL futures board.
The Islanders need to keep up their pace if they want to squeeze into the postseason, as the Washington Capitals are behind them by just two points, while the Columbus Blue Jackets are four back and won seven straight before the break.
Montreal Canadiens
Last year’s 4 Nations break really flipped a switch for the Canadiens, and they are hopeful that the time off for their players will have the same effect this season. Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson both felt as though they were snubbed from the gold medal-winning Team USA and should have some extra fire to prove the selection team wrong. Captain Nick Suzuki played a role in Team Canada’s silver medal finish, scoring a huge goal in the quarterfinal. Juraj Salfkovsky had the most impressive Olympics, leading Team Slovakia with eight points in six games, finishing fourth in tournament scoring.
The extra downtime has given players like Alex Newhook time to recover from injury. The Newfoundlander missed the past 40 games after a gruesome ankle injury took him out of the lineup in mid-November. At the time, Newhook was fifth on the team in scoring, with six goals and six assists in 17 games.
Before the break, the Canadiens were on a five-game point streak, climbing into second place in a tightly contested Atlantic Division. A big part of that success was goalie Jakub Dobes, who took over the starting job, getting the nod in four of their past five games.
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