Facing each other for the final time this season, the New York Islanders and the Winnipeg Jets meet at Bell MTS Place. The Sports Network will air this East-West matchup, which gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 17.
New York Islanders at Winnipeg Jets Odds
With a -120 moneyline, Winnipeg enters the contest as the favorite. The line for New York sits at +100, and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-105 for the over, -115 for the under).
The Jets are 4-4 straight up (SU) and have netted 0.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, ranked 3rd in the Central Division in this young season, is a regression from the 47-35 record that the team managed during last year’s regular season campaign. Among its eight games this season, four have gone over the total, while three have gone under and just one has pushed. The team is 1-2 SU at home so far this year.
Winnipeg’s successfully connected on 18.5 percent of its power play chances in 2019-20. That’s a big drop-off from last season, when it was ranked fourth in the league by scoring on 24.6 percent of its extra-man opportunities. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year as it’s gone from successfully defending 78.7 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 24th overall last season) to 60.0 percent this year.
As a team, Winnipeg has been whistled for penalties just 2.0 times per game this season, a number that has improved drastically over the 3.7 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.1 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to kill penalties for just 4.0 minutes per matchup this year.
Sporting a .919 save percentage and 31.8 saves per game, Connor Hellebuyck (3-2) has been the top option in goal for the Jets this year. If head coach Paul Maurice chooses to give him the night off, however, the Jets might turn to Laurent Brossoit (1-2-2 record, .850 save percentage, 4.86 goals against average).
Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine will both lead the offensive attack for the Jets. Scheifele (12 points) has put up four goals and eight assists while Laine has three goals and nine assists to his name so far in the season’s early going.
New York has lost 0.7 units for moneyline bettors thus far and is currently 3-3 straight up (SU). Through six regular season matches, four of its games have gone under the total, while two have gone over and none have pushed.
New York’s scored on 27.3 percent of its power play chances this year after converting on 15.1 percent of its extra-man opportunities last season (a percentage that was ranked just 29th in the NHL). The team’s gone from successfully defending 80.7 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 13th overall last season) to 75.0 percent in 2019-20.
New York’s players have been penalized only 2.8 times per game this season, a number that has improved from the 3.3 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 7.8 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 6.5 minutes per outing this year.
Thomas Greiss (24.5 saves per game) has been the main option in goal for New York. Greiss owns a 2-2 record, while registering a .925 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average this year.
Brock Nelson (three goals, two assists) and Josh Bailey (two goals, two assists) are the top offensive options for New York and will pace the offensive counter for the visiting Islanders.
New York Islanders vs. Winnipeg Jets Betting Picks
NHL Pick: SU Winner – Jets, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The under has hit in three of New York’s last five games.
- New York has managed 19.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Winnipeg is averaging 33.7 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Islanders are 3-2 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Jets are 1-0 SU when they spend more time in the box than their opponent.
