Overview
The New York Islanders head into Pittsburgh Saturday for a meetings with the Penguins. The Islanders have not feared well versus the Penguins of late losing 11 of the last 14 meetings overall and they have also won just 5 times in their last 26 meetings in Pittsburgh.
Head to Head Trends
Islanders are 15-36 in the last 51 meetings.
Islanders are 5-21 in the last 26 meetings in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Penguins (-155)
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished 1st in the Metropolitan Division last season with 109 points. As you would expect the Penguins have a lot of fire power on offense scoring 249 goals last season but it may surprise some people that they also played very well on defense allowing just 207 goals. So far this season the Penguins are 2-1 with wins coming against the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Their one loss came in their last game versus the Dallas Stars when Dallas scored two late goals to steal a 3-2 win. The Penguins have scored 13 goals through their first three games of the season largely due to a red hot power play that is 6 for 13 so far.
Pittsburgh Penguins Trends
Penguins are 74-32 in their last 106 home games.
Penguins are 61-29 in their last 90 games playing on 1 days rest.
New York Islanders (+145)
The New York Islanders finished dead last in the Metropolitan Division last season with just 79 points. The Islanders scored 225 goals but with most young teams they struggled on defense allowing 267 goals. So far this season the Islanders are looking really good winning all four games they have played. The first two of those games were against the Carolina Hurricanes who are probably going to be one of the worst teams in the league this season so I don’t put a whole lot of weight in those games but their last two games have been against a couple good teams in the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks so their might be something to this Islanders teams.
New York Islanders Trends
Islanders are 4-0 this season.
Islanders are 7-20 in their last 27 Saturday games.
Conclusion
I’m going to go with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Islanders in this one. The Penguins are a good team and I see them finishing the season with one of the best record in the league again. The Islanders on the other hand may be off to a really good start to the season but I don’t see them as a top team and I think the chances of them starting the season 5-0 are pretty slim.
Free Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins -155
