New York Islanders will host Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL preseason on Tuesday evening. The home side opened the preseason with two wins before suffering a defeat in the latest game. The visitors played four prep matches so far, and after two losses, they managed to bounce back with two victories.
New York heads to this match after a 2-1 overtime defeat against New Jersey Devils. They want to get back on the winning track and celebrate for the third time after being better than New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. It is going to be the second clash of these two sides in the preseason, and the Flyers are on a good run after beating the Capitals and the Bruins. The away side wants to keep up where it left off and book another victory.
New York Islanders – Can they enter playoffs again?
The Islanders managed to go to the post-season last time, as they finished fourth in the East Division. New York were ahead of the Rangers, and a 32-17-7 record was enough for them to enter the playoffs. They actually went pretty far in the chase for the Stanley Cup finals, but the defending champions, Tampa Bay Lightning, stopped them in the semifinals after a seven-game tie. The hosts search for another playoffs participation, and they want to go as far as possible again.
New York Islanders are currently 2-1 in the preseason after losing to the Devils on Sunday. The Islanders’ biggest strength will be in goal this season, as they will use a Semyon Varlamov – Ilya Sorokin tandem throughout the season. Nevertheless, we can also see Cory Schneider getting the action time. Varlamov’s save percentage went up to .929 last season, considering only the goalies who made at least 30 appearances. He also had seven shutouts. On the other hand, we should expect Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Zach Parise, Anthony Beauvillier, and Kyle Palmieri to lead the Islanders’ attacking corps.
Expected Line-Up: Semyon Varlamov, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Leo Komarov, Matthew Barzal, Josh Bailey
with best odds
Philadelphia Flyers – Is an improvement on cards this season?
The Flyers didn’t have too successful season last time since they finished sixth in the East Division. A 25-23-8 record saw them 13 points below the Islanders, and they need to improve a lot to become candidates for the playoffs. Philadelphia’s GM Chuck Fletcher delivered the off-season change promise, and we’ll see how the Flyers will look in the new campaign. The biggest bounce-back candidate might be the goalie, Carter Hart, who was underperforming last season. Besides that, new chemistry in the roster might bring some good results this time.
Philadelphia is currently at 2-2 in the preseason, after beating the Capitals 3-1 and the Bruins 2-1 after overtime. They looked pretty good against the Capitals, outshooting them 31-22 and winning 30 faceoffs. Cam Atkinson, Claude Giroux, and Scott Laughton scored in Philadelphia’s winning effort over Washington. Goalie Martin Jones had an excellent display with 21 saves with a .955 percentage.
Expected Line-Up: Carter Hart, Ivan Provorov, Ryan Ellis, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny
Expert Pick #1 – New York Islanders to win ML @+115
The hosts have been very good on the home ice, as they won 38 times on the last 56 occasions. They beat the Flyers five times in a row, while Philadelphia lost four of its previous five outings. I expect the Islanders to put another good home display and celebrate a victory. Therefore, I’ll take New York as the first pick.
Expert Pick #2 – Under 5.5 @-117
The Under cashed eight times in the Flyers’ last 11 road games, while the Islanders have been involved in low-scoring games pretty often. Since both teams come to this match after playing overtime, I don’t expect to see too many goals, and I’ll stick to the Under as my second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Islanders & Under 5.5 @+235
For the third pick, I combined the above two bets. Of course, I’ll stake lower on it, but the odds are pretty good and might bring a good payout. If the Islanders celebrate and the game stays under a 5.5 margin, we can get more than double the stake of pure profits.
