One team’s clean record is about to get is first blemish tonight when two undefeated teams in the San Jose Sharks and the New York Islanders square off in what should be a high-octane matchup. Can San Jose outduel the fast-rising Islanders? Or will the Isles continue to turn heads and prove that they’re not more than just +650 longshots to win the Metropolitan Division?
In another interesting showdown, the Boston Bruins battle their second Original Six game in a row when they pay the Montreal Canadiens a visit tonight. You can read our preview of that contest here.
[sc:NHLArticles ]San Jose Sharks vs. New York Islanders Betting Preview
Where: Nassau Coliseum, Hempstead Turnpike Uniondale
When: Thursday, October 16, 7:00 PM ET
Line: San Jose Sharks (pk) at New York Islanders (pk); total: 5.5 – view all NHL lines
Betting on the San Jose Sharks
[sc:NHL240 ]No captain, no problem. The Sharks have yet to name the guy who’ll wear the C on his jersey but they could care less, as they are now 3-0 to start the season after their shootout win Tuesday against the Washington Capitals, 6-5.
With Antti Niemi in front of the net, the Sharks began their campaign by blanking the reigning Stanley Cup Champions and rivals, LA Kings, 4-0, on October 11. They followed it up with another shutout win over the Winnipeg Jets three days later, this time with Alex Stalock between the pipes. Stalock turned away all of the Jets’ 30 shots on goal in that game before Niemi took his turn against the Caps.
Although the five goals Niemi surrendered to the Caps look worrisome for San Jose, it should be noted that two of those goals were given up while the Sharks were on the penalty kill against a team that ranked second last season on the man advantage with 23.4 PP%. Nevertheless, the Sharks, who own the second best goals against average in the league with 1.7 GAA, will have a busy night at New York against the high-scoring Isles.
Fans who are following the Sharks for quite some time now, however, know that San Jose can win games by showering opponents with a barrage of goals. The Sharks are fourth in the league with a 4.0 GF/G, with center Tommy Wingels leading the team with three goals. Joe Pavelski, who led the team last season with 41 goals, finally tallied his first of the new season Tuesday against the Caps.
The Sharks have nipped New York in five of their last six meetings.
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Betting on the New York Islanders
Garth Snow signed Jaroslav Halak over the offseason to address the Islanders’ sluggish goaltending. While that major improvement on defense they are expecting is yet to be felt – the Islanders have given up three goals in each of their last three games –, the offense, on the other hand, is making sure their netminders have enough goal support to feel comfortable while they continue to search for form.
The Islanders opened up their season with a 5-3 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes, where new acquisitions Johnny Boychuck scored a goal and second-year center Brock Nelson found the back of the net twice. Brock would go on to score one goal in each of the Islanders next two games to pace the team with four goals.
Team captain John Tavares, Boychuck, and Grabovksi, meanwhile, have two goals apiece thus far this season to anchor the Islanders’ offense that is currently second in the NHL with 5.0 GF/G. The Islanders are also absolutely killing it on the power play, converting five of their 12 opportunities for 41.7 % PP. That’s good for second overall in the league. As mentioned, the Sharks showed cracks in their penalty kill in their win over Washington, so expect Nelson (2 power play goals), Boychuck (2), and Tavares (1), to make life hard for San Jose’s special teams.
Dating back to the tail end of last season, the Islanders are 6-0 in their last six games overall. The over is also 4-1-1 in those games.
Writer’s Prediction
Jaroslav Halak has his breakout game and gives up just one goal in the Islanders’ 3-1 win.
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