Islanders vs. Maple Leafs prediction: NHL odds, picks, best bets
Both New York teams are in action Monday when the NHL kicks off the second half of the regular season.
While the Rangers host the Avalanche, the Islanders head north of the border to take on the Maple Leafs.
The Islanders haven’t got the new-coach bump that other teams did after a midseason change behind the bench, but the process already looks better under Patrick Roy than it did under Lane Lambert.
Prior to the change the Islanders graded out as the worst defensive team in the league by basically every metric except goals against.
And while it’s a small sample size, Roy has the Islanders .
Under Lambert this season, the Islanders allowed 69 shot attempts, 33 shots on goal and 12.7 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes at five-on-five.
In four games under Roy, those numbers have dipped to 55, 30 and 7.6, respectively.
It’s worth reiterating that it’s been only four games since Roy took over, but it’s also important to wonder where this team’s ceiling can be with a competent defense. They’ve somehow managed to hang around the playoff picture despite woeful defensive metrics; who knows where they can go if things get cleaned up.
It’s been a very uneven season so far for the Maple Leafs, but the Buds quieted the noise with a three-game winning streak right before the break.
There are still some very real issues for Toronto, notably a lack of depth and a below-average defense, but the Leafs have enough elite skill to make them a dangerous opponent on any given night.
With that said, that’s not really the type of team you want to back at this kind of price.
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If the Islanders get their act together defensively, they should start to trend in the right direction and play at a better pace than they did through the first 49 games of the season.
We’ll back on that defensive improvement to continue against a team that profiles as a vulnerable favorite Monday night.
Best Bet: Islanders (+140, Caesars)
