Ottawa Senators vs. New York Islanders: NHL Odds, Prediction

Payton Matthews
Last Updated: December 1, 2017

Ottawa just can’t find the net or a victory of late as the Senators bring a seven-game losing streak into a visit to a very good New York Islanders team on Friday night.

Ottawa Senators vs. New York Islanders

When: Friday, 7 p.m. ET

Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn

NHL odds: Islanders -145, Senators +130 (5.5)

NHL Odds and Betting Analysis

Second of three meetings between the teams this season. Ottawa hosts the Islanders on March 27.

This past Saturday, Ottawa was a slight -115 favourite against the visiting Islanders, but New York won 2-1. Anders Lee gave the Islanders the lead at 8:06 of the second with a power-play goal, and Jordan Eberle made it 2-0 at 14:10 of the third. Matt Duchene scored a power-play goal at 15:39 of the third to make things interesting, but the Senators couldn’t get another past Jaroslav Halak, who had 31 saves. Nick Leddy added two assists for New York.

Last year, the Senators were 1-1 in Brooklyn. They won 6-2 on Dec. 18, 2016, behind two goals from Zack Smith and a goal and an assist from Mark Stone. Andrew Hammond started in net but left in the first with an injury and Mike Condon had 18 saves in relief. The Isles started third-string goalie Jean-Francois Berube.

Ottawa’s final game of the 2016-17 regular season was a 4-2 loss at the Islanders. New York had nothing to play for that day, being eliminated from the playoffs the night before. Thomas Greiss stopped 32 shots. Bobby Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators, and Condon had 17 saves. The Sens were locked into their first-round playoff matchup and rested several regulars.

The under is 9-3 in the past 12 meetings between these teams.

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa (8-9-6) still hasn’t topped more than two goals in any game during its seven-game skid following a 2-1 loss in Montreal on Wednesday – this writer predicted that exact final score. It’s the franchise’s longest losing streak since Jan. 21-Feb. 7, 2012. Something must have been in the water in Stockholm after the Senators swept the Avs in Sweden because Ottawa hasn’t won since.

Stone had the lone goal vs. Montreal (shorthanded) and is among the league leaders with 14. Condon got the start in net and allowed both goals in the second period, one on a penalty shot. Erik Karlsson was held off the score sheet again and hasn’t had a point during the losing streak. It’s his longest such run since his rookie year when he went eight straight games without a point.

New York Islanders

The Islanders (15-7-2) are playing some of the best hockey in the NHL in the past two weeks or so as they have won four straight and seven of eight, including impressive victories in St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

New York comes off a 5-2 home win over Vancouver on Tuesday. Captain John Tavares was the No. 1 star with a goal and an assist. He leads the team with 16 goals (third in NHL) and is tied for first with 28 points. Jordan Eberle had a goal for the third straight game and reached 400 career NHL points. Mathew Barzal’s point streak reached seven games with an assist. The British Columbia native is a top Calder Trophy candidate with six goals and 18 assists.

New York leads the league in scoring at 3.7 goals per game and is 8-0-2 at home. Thanks to Halak, the Isles have allowed two or fewer goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season, but it could be Greiss’ turn in net on Friday.