Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day our writers here at Last Word on Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the New York Islanders taking on the Vegas Golden Knights. Don’t forget to check out more NHL Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2024-25 season.
NHL Predictions
New York Islanders vs Vegas Golden Knights
Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
The Islanders Story
The Islanders come into this game playing the best they have all season. Their seven-game winning streak was snapped in a 6-3 loss against the Florida Panthers. The offence has been clicking as of late, even in the loss they scored three or more goals for the ninth game in a row. They still rank 26 in the league for the season with 2.73 per game, trending in the right direction at least. However, the bad news about Mathew Barzal being out indefinitely puts a damper on things. That three or more-goal streak will be hard to continue without him in the lineup. With the loss of Barzal, Anthony Duclair will take his spot on the top line. If this team wants any chance of competing, they will need him to step his game up big time. He has five points in 18 games since returning from injury.
Defensively for the Islanders, they are playing much better than they had in the past. As a team, they rank 12th in goals against per game at 2.89 per game. The Panther game was the first time they had allowed more than two goals in seven games. However, take that game with a grain of salt as it was the second of a back-to-back. In addition, they had Jakub Skarek in net making his first career NHL start. He was recalled from the AHL last week and made 27 saves on 32 shots. Starter Ilya Sorokin will be back in net for this game, he had a shutout the last time these teams met. He was also named the NHL first star of the week for his incredible play recently. Over his last six starts, he is 6-0 with a .953 save percentage and 1.19 goals against.
The Golden Knights Story
The Knights come into this game not playing their best brand of hockey. They dropped their last game 4-2 against the New York Rangers. This brings their losing streak to three in a row. They still boast one the league’s best offences, ranking fifth in goals per game with 3.32 per game. Powered by the second-best power play in the league at 28.7%, they have threats all over their lineup. Led by Jack Eichel and his 66 points in 52 games. He remains one of the league’s best playmakers, scoring twice in their last game. He has scored seven times across his last seven games. Tomas Hertl has been on fire recently as well he just had his 11-game point streak snapped. The team’s leading goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev rides a three-game point streak coming into this one. He has scored eight goals and six assists over his last 11 games in January.
If Vegas has one weakness it would be defensively. While they rank ninth in goals against at 2.77 per game, they are vulnerable to give up more than the average says. Their penalty kill is a point of weakness ranking 22nd in the league at 77%. They allow a decent number of chances with 1173 shots against, 16th in the league. Of those shots 124 are considered high danger, the eighth most in the league. They’ve been fortunate to have strong goaltending play for this season. Although starter Adin Hill has run into some troubles recently. Sunday was his third regulation loss over his last six games going 1-3-2 in that stretch. For the season the numbers are still good, 19-10-4 with a .900 save percentage and 2.69 goals against. Backup Ilya Samsonov has been the better of the two as of late, allowing two or fewer goals in nine of his last 11 games. For the season he is 12-6-2 with a .899 save percentage and 2.74 goals against. It is unclear who will get the nod in this game, but we expect Hill to start.
Prediction
The Golden Knights on paper have the better team. They have the offensive advantage and the special team advantage. However, we feel the Islanders defence and goaltending is better. In addition, the Islanders are playing better at the moment while the Knights have lit a little losing streak. With New York on home ice, for this round of NHL Predictions we feel they’ll pull off the upset and sweep the season series from Vegas.
Prediction: 3-2 Islanders win
Prop Bets
The popular sports books have the Islanders as the underdogs, rightfully so. We like those plus odds so take their money line at +122. The over/under is set at 5.5. With the Islanders losing Barzal it will be harder to produce offence, and Sorokin is playing at a high level, so we like the under at +100. As far as any time goal scorers, for the Islanders take Bo Horvat at +200. With Barzal down someone will have to step up, we feel Horvat will be the one to do so. For the Knights take Pavel Dorofeyev, he is the team’s leading goal scorer and has a hot stick right now, so we like his chances to find the back of the net.
Main Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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The post NHL Predictions: February 4 New York Islanders vs Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.