NHL Best Bet: Devils vs Islanders Prediction

The battle for the New York (suburbs) begins tonight. The New Jersey Devils (1-1-1) face off against their neighbors The New York Islanders (2-0-0) in what will be a bruising affair. The Devils will look to right the ship after dropping two games, while the Islanders will want to continue rolling. Lets looks at some NHL best bets for this rivalry match up, by breaking down a total and two NHL player props.

Two Stingy Teams: NJD/NYI u6 (-110) on BETDSI

The Islanders have one, if not the best goalie in the league. Ilya Sorokin is an elite goalie, and has already pitched a shutout in this young season. In front of him are a group of two-way forwards and hard nosed defenders. This team likes to play hard, and limit scoring opportunities.

Last season the New York Islanders had the 5th least amount of goals against, averaging 2.71 per game. They were very disciplined allowing the third least amount of powerplay opportunities, only 2.67 per game. If teams were lucky enough to get a powerplay they faced a top ten penalty kill unit. This plays straight into this NHL best bet of the under 6 goals.

On the other side of the ice are the high flying Devils. New Jersey has a ton of weapons up front and a rangy blueline. They are able to score at will, but also control the pace of the game and suppress opposing offenses.

The Devils were right behind the Islander, only allowing an average of 2.76 goals per game. They had the leagues 4th best penalty kill as well. In the last 10 games these teams played each other they had 7+ goals only twice.

The total goals under 6 looks like one of the NHL best bets for this Friday night.

Brock Nelson o2.5 SOG (+100) on Bovada

Nelson has started the year strong. He has hit his SOG line in both games and had 7 shot attempts in his last game. He was one of the most reliable Islander for SOG over the past two seasons, especially at home where he hit his SOG line 54% of the time.

Surprisingly the New Jersey Devils have been allowing more shots on net than last season. They are currently taking the 8th most shots on goal, allowing Brock to have opportunities to pass this line.

The Islanders top shooter at plus money is one of the NHL best bets of the night.

Kyle Palmieri goal (+260) and o2.5 SOG (+110) on Bovada

Palmieri has been ripping picks to start the season. He’s hit his SOG line in each game this season and is averaging 6.67 shot attempts per game. We also have a revenge narrative here, as Palmieri was a long time Devil.

In fact, out of the seven times he has played against New Jersey since becoming an Islander he has hit his SOG line 57% of the time. Palmieri likes showing up against his former team.

Taking players who have high shot volume for a goal is a nice way to capitalize on correlation. Palmieri has 4 goals against the Devils in his last 6 games against them. New Jersey has been giving up more goals than expected, allowing 10 goals in their first three games. I’m leaning into Palmieri’s hot stick for two NHL best bets!

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