Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Islanders Game 3 Prediction, Playoff Odds
Now in a best-of-five situation, the Islanders have stolen home-ice advantage and could put the pressure on the Penguins.
Penguins vs. Islanders Stanley Cup Odds
The Islanders ended the regular season with an impressive 21-4-3 record on home ice, but two of those overtime losses came from the Penguins. 67 percent of Sports Interaction bettors are siding with the top seeded Penguins tonight. Odds makers have no clear favourite, but Pittsburgh has a slightly higher payout.
The first two games were decided by only a goal, meaning the Islanders have covered the spread four games in a row. Their record against the spread was pretty good overall this season, going 31-27.
The total went down by a half a goal to a season low of 5 and 61% percent of bettors are taking the over, listed at -136. In ten matchups this year they have split the over/under 5-5. Both teams power plays are ice cold and haven’t scored yet this series.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tristan Jarry had a bounce-back performance Monday night stopping 39 of 40 shots picking up his first career NHL postseason victory. The 26-year-old British Columbia native started 38 of the Penguins’ 56 games this season, posting a .909 save percentage and a 2.75 goals against average in his first year since taking over as the starter.
Jeff Carter’s first period game-winning goal was his 40th career playoff marker. He hasn’t scored a playoff goal since way back in 2016 with the LA Kings. Carter rebounded from a poor outing in Game 1 where he was a -2 and took a double minor penalty in the 4-3 loss.
The Penguins have always had a deadly powerplay – with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin its to be expected. But they have looked out of sync since the series began, going scoreless on five opportunities. They had the fourth best in the regular season and a hot powerplay could really carry team in the playoffs.
Some good news on the injury front as veteran and assistant captain Evgeni Malkin is traveling with the team to Long Island. There’s no update on whether or not he will make his series debut tonight.
New York Islanders
The Islanders left the ice with a bitter taste in their mouth, blowing a six-on-four, to tie the game in the last two minutes. Their powerplay is scoreless in the series on three tries, after running at 35 percent in the regular season versus Pittsburgh. The other side of the special teams has been running at 100 percent though, shutting down the Penguins’ power play on all five attempts.
Semyon Varlamov got the start for New York after being unavailable for Game 1. He looked a little shaky in the opening frame and let in a soft goal to open the scoring, but he bounced back for two periods of shutout goaltending.
Josh Bailey scored the Isles lone goal on Tuesday night, he led the team in scoring in last year’s playoffs with 20 points (2G, 18A).
The Islanders need a lot more from their star forward Mathew Barzal and the top line. Barzal led the team with 45 points this season and has 24 points in his 30 career playoff appearances. The Isles are much more dynamic when he’s on his game.
PIT
NYI