Islanders vs. Penguins prediction: NHL odds, picks, bets for Tuesday
This is not the season either Lou Lamoriello or Kyle Dubas had planned.
The respective team presidents for the Islanders and Penguins – and two of the most aggressive hockey executives in the NHL – have produced a whole lot of mediocrity as we approach the league’s trade deadline.
Both New York and Pittsburgh have dwindled toward the bottom of the Metropolitan Division heading into Tuesday’s puck drop at PPG Paints Arena.
The offseason addition of Erik Karlsson clearly wasn’t the turbo boost the Pens thought it would be after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
At 36 years of age, Sidney Crosby is still putting the weight of the franchise on his back, but his supporting cast has fleeted. He leads the club with 55 points with Jake Guentzel, who is atop the trade bait board, three points behind him.
The Isles have now dropped three straight and are four points outside the playoffs.
The marquee bench hire of Patrick Roy was good for headlines and hopeful inspiration, but putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t make it prettier.
This team isn’t constructed for long-term success and it hasn’t been for several years. The longer it takes management to realize that, the longer the Isles will hang in limbo.
Ilya Sorokin can only bail out so many defensive lapses and it’s begun to show in his numbers with a high-danger save percentage on unblocked shot attempts of .758.
If it didn’t already show against the Rangers in Sunday’s Stadium Series overtime thriller, the Isles have the worst penalty killing rate in the NHL. They allow the second-most shots and are No. 26 overall in goal differential.
Against the Rangers, the Islanders outshot their cross-town rivals 41-38 and owned five-on-five play the entire match, but they blew two multi-goal leads, including 5-3 with less than five minutes left in regulation.
The Isles lost their handle by committing untimely, lazy penalties, which ultimately was their undoing.
The Penguins are starving for leads on the scoresheet, but they haven’t been getting any puck luck as they produce 33 shots per game. In turn, Pittsburgh is quietly ranked eighth in expected goals rate.
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They also match the Isles in goaltending with a top-four save percentage that Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic have produced with healthy goals-saved-above-expected numbers.
Pittsburgh has been victim to some close defeats lately. The Pens are primed to capitalize on a deflated Isles team at home amidst all of this frustration.
Pick: Penguins -1.5 (+172, FanDuel)
