Islanders vs. Hurricanes Game 6 pick: NHL odds, predictions

The New York Islanders are somehow still standing.

The Isles won their first elimination game of their best-of-7 series with the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, on Tuesday night and earned themselves another game in front of a raucous home crowd at UBS Arena. 

And while the Isles’ victory in Game 5 was their first back-against-the-wall moment of these NHL playoffs, it was far from their first brush with elimination this season.

In fact, you could make the argument that this team was playing must-win games for the last six weeks of the regular season, culminating with a lose-and-go-home contest against the Montreal Canadiens in their regular season finale. 

The Islanders have been battered, bruised and wobbled, but they’re still standing.

Can they send this series back to Raleigh with a win on Friday night?

Hurricanes vs. Islanders pick

(7 p.m. ET)

You could make the argument that Carolina played its best game of the series on Tuesday night.

The Hurricanes ended up losing, 3-2, but they had a significant edge in shot attempts (58 to 34) at 5-on-5 and had the better of the expected goals, 2.4 to 1.9. Carolina was a dominant 5-on-5 team all regular season, but the Isles had been surprisingly strong in that department all series until Game 5.

The Islanders have outscored the Hurricanes, 10 to 8, at 5-on-5 through the first five games and they have a slight edge in expected goals created (10.8 to 10.5) and high-danger scoring chances (56 to 46).

Carolina’s special teams were the difference in the first four games in this series, but the Isles were able to keep the Carolina power play off the board in Game 5 thanks to a terrific showing from Ilya Sorokin.

Sorokin’s performance in this series was weirdly under fire after Game 4, but the Russian netminder responded to the doubters with a stellar showing in a hostile environment on Tuesday night.

He was the difference and remains the biggest advantage that the Islanders have against the Hurricanes, who may hand Freddie Andersen his first start of the series in Game 6. 

It’s already hard enough to project goaltending, so it’s almost a fool’s errand to try and figure out how Andersen will play if he gets the nod.

Betting on the NHL?

But the safe assumption is that the Isles should have the A-side in this goaltending matchup. 

No matter who starts in goal for the Canes, whether it’s Antti Raanta or Andersen, it’s likely they’ll continue to do what they do best and smother their opponents in order to limit scoring chances.

The Isles are already an offensively-challenged team, so it’s no surprise that they’ve had trouble generating good looks against this defense. 

As long as Carolina’s on song and Sorokin is in form, this figures to be another low-event, tight game that should stay under the total.