The Islanders conclude their second seven-game road trip of the season Wednesday night against the Seattle Kraken.
The Isles have already clinched at least a .500 road trip with three wins and an overtime loss, but the team’s play has generally been underwhelming.
You could argue that Patrick Roy’s side got the rub of the green in all three victories, including a 1-0 shutout against the Oilers and Monday’s uninspiring display against last-place Vancouver.
The numbers back that up, as the Islanders have been outplayed at 5-on-5, and some of the defensive warts that plagued this team in the early part of the season have popped back up.
The Islanders do deserve credit for getting points — and wins — when they’re without their A-game, but their form does not inspire confidence.
The good news for the Islanders is that they’re not going up against a juggernaut Wednesday night.
The Kraken, like plenty of clubs in the Western Conference, have been tepid for large portions of the first half, and their lack of scoring punch is their defining characteristic this season.
Seattle ranks 30th in the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring and is dead last in expected goals created.
The Isles defense has had issues on this trip, but they should be able to handle this attack.
With neither team inspiring any confidence, we’ll try to find value in this contest by looking at a derivative market — namely, the game to go to overtime.
Betting on the NHL?
Given the lack of offensive firepower on display and the shoddy form of both of these teams, you can expect a pretty scrappy tilt in Seattle on Wednesday night.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Islanders and Kraken are in different conferences and would have no issue with this game going to overtime if it was tied late into the evening.
The Play: 60-minute draw (+280, FanDuel)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
