NHL betting

Penguins vs. Islanders Betting Odds, Picks, Prediction (November 26, 2021)

Published

2 years ago

November 26, 2021

On Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins (9-6-4) look to extend their season-long winning streak to five games when they visit the New York Islanders (5-9-2), at brand new UBS Arena in New York. It’s the first of just three meetings between the longtime division rivals.

Let’s get into our Penguins vs. Islanders betting pick with player prop predictions, odds, and analysis for this November 26, 2021 matchup.

Penguins-Islanders Preview

The Penguins are playing their best hockey of the season. They have been stingy. They are limiting opponents to a low number of shots on goal but even more impressively, a small percentage of high-danger chances. And the ones they are allowing, Tristan Jarry seems to be gobbling up.

When the penguins are going like this, they are hard to beat – and they are finally showing some consistency after a wildly inconsistent start tot he season that was magnified by injuries and a Covid-19 outbreak.

As for the Islanders, they’ve gotten off to a terrible start and sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division. This after reaching the Eastern Conference Final two seasons in a row.

However, things have been rough schedule-wise for the Islanders, who just had their home opener last week after playing the entire first month-plus on the road.

That proved to be a challenge for New York, and is one of the reasons they are at the bottom of the standings, but another has been their inability to score goals.

New York ranks 31st in the NHL in goals per game, averaging just 2.00. Making matters worse, their power play is the worst in the sport, clicking at just 10.6 percent.

They probably would have a couple more wins though had their defense been better. They’re allowing 3.12 goals per game this season, which ranks 22nd in the NHL. Ilya Sorokin has been OK in goal (2.54; .925) but Semyon Varlamov has not (3.46; .881) losing all four of his starts.

But the offense has been so putrid of late that their leading point producers in the last five games are Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri – who have just two points each.

In their defense, New York has been decimated by injuries and Covid-19. The Islanders, who have lost seven straight, played their last game against the New York Rangers without eight regulars in the lineup.

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Penguins vs. Islanders Odds

Here are the lines for Penguins vs. Islanders at FanDuel Sportsbook:

Spread: Penguins (-1.5 +164), Islanders (+1.5 -210)
Moneyline: Penguins (-156), Canucks (+130)
Over/Under: Over 5.5 (+102), Under 5.5 (-124)

Bets We Like with a Penguins Win

Penguins to win by 2-plus goals (+180, BetMGM)

Pittsburgh can feel the Islanders pain. They are without: Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Ross Johnston, Keifer Bellows, Adam Pelech, Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara all because of Covid-19 protocols and Nelson, Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock, all who suffered lower-body injuries. New York is basically playing an AHL lineup tonight. That can’t bode well against the streaking Penguins. Not to mention, the Islanders haven’t covered the puck line in the last seven games. Tonight won’t be any better.

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Bets We Like with a Islanders Win

Total goals by the Penguins UNDER 2.5(+126, FanDuel Sportsbook)

We’re not sure this would even be enough to guarantee an Islanders win, but it would get them closer to having a chance. New York really needs Sorokin to have a monster game in goal and stymie the Penguins. Otherwise, we wouldn’t recommend betting the Islanders at all until they have some semblance of health in their lineup.

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Bets We Like Independent of Outcome

Penguins to win the first period(+160, DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Penguins are 4-0-1 when leading after one period and are 8-1-0 when scoring the first goal. Meanwhile, the Islanders have lost seven of their last eight first periods when underdogs coming off of a loss. This one seems like a surefire winner as long as Pittsburgh can get on the board in the opening 20, which we think they will.

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Penguins vs. Islanders Prediction

Sometimes when teams going in opposite directions meet with long winning/losing streaks, the upset happens. But considering the Islanders personnel concerns, we don’t see any way that happens in this one.

Prediction: Penguins 4, Islanders 1

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