By Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal, and the New York Islanders are set to do battle against Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in an East-West matchup. The game gets underway at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 15, and you’ll be able to catch it live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
New York Islanders vs. Vegas Golden Knights Odds
Playing the role of favorites will be the Golden Knights (-175), while the Islanders are showing moneyline odds of +155, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -125 for the over and +105 for the under at Fanduel New Jersey Sportsbook.
New York is 33-23 straight up (SU) and has earned 6.9 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 56 regular season matches, 29 of its games have gone under the total, while 24 have gone over and just three have pushed. The Isles are 15-12 SU on the road in 2019-20.
New York has converted on 18.9 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 79.5 percent of its penalties..
With a .915 save percentage and 25.8 saves per game, Semyon Varlamov (18-17-4) has been the best option in goal for New York this year. If head coach Barry Trotz decides to rest him, however, New York may go with Thomas Greiss (16-12-2), who has a .916 save percentage and 2.65 goals against average this year.
On the other side of the rink, Vegas is 29-30 straight up (SU) and has lost 16.5 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 30 of its games have gone over the total, while 25 have gone under and just four have pushed. This season, the team is 15-14 SU as the home team.
The Golden Knights have converted on 22.2 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 21st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.1 percent of all opponent power plays.
Marc-Andre Fleury (26.4 saves per game) has been the top selection in goal for the Golden Knights. Fleury has 21 wins, 20 losses, and five overtime losses and has recorded a fairly-weak .904 save percentage and 2.87 goals against average this year.
New York Islanders at Vegas Golden Knights Free Picks
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Golden Knights, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
The Golden Knights are 15-14 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Islanders are 25-9 SU in games where they spend more time in the box than the opposition.
Vegas is 3-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while New York is 3-2 in shootouts.
New York may hold the upper hand if it’s a tight one late. The team’s an impressive 16-10 in games decided by one goal, while Vegas is 12-14 in such games.
For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their past five outings.
New York is ranked 31st this season with 14.3 giveaways per game. That figure has trended down lately, however, as the team’s averaged 10.7 giveaways over its last 10 games and 10.0 giveaways over its last five.
Vegas skaters have averaged 8.6 giveaways over its last five home games, right in line with its season average of 8.8 giveaways per game (ranked 8th in the league).
This game features two of the tougher defenses in the league. New York skaters have accounted for the second-most hits in the league (28.3 per game) while the Knights have registered the fourth-most (27.4).
