Islanders vs Toronto. NHL match prediction and bets

Current form

The Isles are trying hard to cling to a playoff spot in the East, but the competition in the bottom half of the table is very high. New York is in 13th place with 35 points after 38 starts. The Islanders played very poorly in November, but since the beginning of winter they have improved their quality of play and have earned just over half of the points in their games this winter. Patrick Roy team had a disastrous start to their last road trip, first losing to Chicago (3:5) and Carolina (0:4). Before returning home, the Islanders pulled themselves together and beat Toronto in Canada (6:3). After that, the hosts suffered a crushing defeat to Buffalo, traded wins with Pittsburgh (6:3 and 2:3), and then lost in Toronto (1:3).

New York is no longer the lowest scoring team in the conference, but the Islanders still look pretty lackluster in attack. In the last five games, they have only made 16 accurate shots, while the club leading scorer is only on the 60th line in the league overall list. Anders Lee, as captain, makes a big contribution to the result and has made 30 effective actions (16+14).

Semyon Varlamov has fully recovered from his injury, but it is still unclear when the veteran will be able to return to the ice. For now, he is being replaced by Ilya Sorokin, who is not always good at the last line of defense. The Russian made only one shutout and reflected 89.82% of shots, improving this figure over the course of recent weeks.

Disqualifications and injuries

Simon Hallstrom, Mike Riley and Semyon Varlamov will not be able to take part in the upcoming meeting.

Interesting trends for betting

• The Islanders are winning 55.5 percent of their faceoffs.

The Islanders are good at this metric and take most of the faceoffs.

• The hosts earn only 5.50 minutes of penalty time per match

New York takes very few penalties and plays with extreme discipline.

Current form

Toronto rose to third place in the conference, but was unable to consolidate its position among the leaders of the East. The Canadian club earned 48 points in 38 starts and moved up to first place in the Atlantic Division standings. The Leafs played well at the beginning of the second half of December, but lost three of the previous five matches. Craig Berube charges could not cope with the pressure of the Islanders (3:6) and Winnipeg (2:5), and then won in Michigan (5:2). Returning home, the team from the province of Ontario lost to Washington (2:5), and in the last match of the year took revenge on the Islanders (3:1).

The Maple Leafs were struggling defensively late last year. They allowed 19 goals in their last five games and often lost games because of their poor play on their half of the ice. With Anthony Stolarz injured, Joseph Wall has stepped in as the visiting team starting goalie. The goalie has a .9126 save percentage this season and one shutout in 17 starts. He often the one who lets his teammates down and makes mistakes.

Mitchell Marner leads the team in scoring with 51 points (13 goals, 38 assists). The Canadian is in great shape and ranks seventh in the NHL in scoring. He is followed by William Nylander, who has contributed to 43 of his team goals.

Disqualifications and injuries

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Pontus Holmberg, Anthony Stolarz and Josh Klingberg will not play in New York.

Interesting trends for betting

• Toronto gets 7.95 penalty minutes per game

The team has not been particularly disciplined this season and has often been sent off more than three times.

• The Leafs are allowing opponents to shoot 29 times per game on average.

The visitors play second fiddle and rarely outshoot their opponents.