Liontips
Utah vs. Islanders: NHL Match Prediction
Exactly one day after the last match, Utah will play another match in its first season in the NHL. On January 12, the debutants will play against the Islanders for the second time in the history of the franchise. The day before, the newcomers won a strong-willed victory over San Jose and interrupted an unsuccessful series at home. The Islanders are playing well during the current away tour and have already managed to make two sensations. Are the hosts able to stop the Islanders? Look for the answer in our betting tip for the game
Command Analysis
Utah Hockey Club
USACurrent form
Utah does not intend to drop out of the fight for getting into the playoffs, but now the team from Salt Lake is still only in 11th place in the conference. The newcomers do not lose hope of getting into the final part of the tournament in their first season, but the hosts have only 43 points after 41 matches. The team led by Andre Tourigny looked great during December, and right before Christmas, they lost shape. The hosts have only two victories in nine previous matches, and both were won in the new year. After away matches in Calgary (5:3) and Dallas (2:3, OT), Clayton Keller team returned home. They lost to Florida (1:4), but the day before they barely won against San Jose (2:1). The Sharks scored the first goal in the 58th second, but this could not break the opponent spirit. With a minute and a half left in regulation time, Barrett Hayton brought his team a psychologically important victory.
Connor Ingram is now off the injured list and was on the bench last game, and Karel Vejmelka is still working as the last line of defense. The Czech goalie has appeared on the ice 26 times this season and has a .919 save percentage. It is likely that the Canadian will be on the ice against the Islanders, but it is not yet known what form he is in.
The captain of Utah is its current top scorer. Clayton Keller has 41 points (14+27) in goals and assists, and is already six points ahead of Logan Cooley (11+24). The author of the first goal in the history of the franchise, Dylan Gunter, is in third place on the list of the club top scorers (16+18). Nick Schmaltz (7+23) is also among the league top 100 leaders.
Disqualifications and injuries
Robert Bortuzzo, Sean Durzi, Connor Ingram and John Marino will not be able to take part in the upcoming fight.
Interesting trends for betting
- Utah is averaging 2.83 goals per game this season.
Rookies don't always play badly on offense, but their numbers only get worse over time.
- The Salt Lake club averages 27 shots per game
The debutants don't have many shots on goal, but they managed to convert 10.3% of their chances.
New York Islanders
USACurrent form
The Isles are trying their best to cling to a playoff spot in the East, but the competition in the lower half of the table is very high. New York is in 14th place with 39 points after 41 games. The Islanders played very poorly at the end of autumn, but with the beginning of winter they improved their game a little and earned a little more than half of the points in games this winter. Patrick Roy team failed the end of 2024 and lost twice to Toronto (1:3 and 1:2), but with the start of a new away series they began to gain momentum. Anders Lee squad still squeezed out Boston in Massachusetts (5:4, OT), and then won dry in Nevada (4:0). The game against Vegas developed entirely according to the scenario of the visitors. They scored in each period and hammered the nail into the coffin with a puck into an empty net two and a half minutes before the final siren.
New York has regained its status as the conference lowest scoring team. The Islanders still look rather lackluster in attack. In the last five games, they have only made 12 accurate shots, although in the last two games they managed to score as many as eight goals. The club leading scorer is only on the 63rd line in the league overall list. Anders Lee, as captain, makes a big contribution to the result and made 30 effective actions (16+14).
Semyon Varlamov is still in the visitors' infirmary, so for now he is being replaced by Ilya Sorokin, who is not always good at the last line of defense. At the same time, he was excellent in the last game in Nevada and stopped all 30 shots, making his second shutout this season. The Russian has a reliability coefficient of 2.83 with 90.20% saves.
Disqualifications and injuries
Hudson Fasching, Isaiah George, Simon Hallstrom, Mike Riley and Semyon Varlamov will not be able to participate in the upcoming meeting.
Interesting trends for betting
- The Islanders are winning 55.2% of their faceoffs.
The Islanders are good at this metric and take most of the faceoffs.
- The hosts earn only 5.24 penalty minutes per match.
New York takes very few penalties and plays with extreme discipline.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total under 1.5 goals
In four of the Islanders' five games, the first period was scoreless.
1.95Bet 2nd period: Islanders to score
The Isles have scored in the second period in their last four games.
1.50Tip and bets
Utah broke its losing streak and scored points in three games out of four. However, the debutants still look very weak at home and have not scored in large quantities at this stage of the season. Connor Ingram will probably appear on the ice for the first time since his injury. It is still unclear what form the goalie is in, so we can expect mistakes from him. The Islanders are playing well this trip and have already beaten two strong teams. The visitors finally started to convert their chances and played well in defense. We think that Anders Lee squad will take two points in Salt Lake. We suggest betting on the Islanders' victory with a zero handicap.
Our prediction is Islanders win with Asian handicap (0) for 2.04
Bet on individual total
Utah is scoring just 2.56 goals per game at home and barely managed to get two goals against San Jose. Since mid-December, Andre Tourigny men have only managed to score at least three times in a game twice. The Islanders are a defensive team. Ilya Sorokin is in good shape right now and is unlikely to let himself be beaten three times.
Betting Tip - Utah individual total under three goals for 1.70
Bet on total
Both teams play a closed style and try not to concede first and foremost. Utah has scored very little for a long time, and the Isles have only split up in their last two starts. In the first match between the rivals, there were eight goals during regulation time. We don’t think we’ll see anything similar in Salt Lake. Let’s play a bet on the total under.
Betting Tip - total under six goals for 1.65
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