Face-off: 1930 ET, 22/03/2022
Arena: UBS Arena
New York Islanders only have a very slim chance of snatching a wild card spot but deserve credit for their recent form and are worthy favourites to see off Ottawa.
The struggling Senators have lost four of their past five matches, going down by an average of three goals per defeat.
Let’s take 4.5 for the visitors to be beaten by that margin here in our New York Islanders vs Ottawa Senators predictions.
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New York Islanders Odds
The Islanders were shaded 2-1 at Philadelphia on Sunday but had triumphed 4-2 versus Dallas at this venue the previous day.
That was a fourth straight home victory during an impressive 6-1-1 stretch overall.
Reflecting on the Flyers game, head coach Barry Trotz admitted: “They didn’t have a lot of juice – plain and simple
“Mentally, they just didn’t have the juice. We played okay, but we didn’t execute when we needed to.
“We didn’t generate enough and we passed up some looks. We were just not really sharp and I’ll attribute it to everyone pushing hard this week.
“It’s a lot of games and we just didn’t have enough juice.”
We’re hoping that a day off and returning to UBS Arena will do the trick, though, and are ready to get back on board the bandwagon.
Looking at the NHL odds for this contest, 11.0 for a clinical 4-1 home win catches the eye.
Ottawa Senators Odds
Ottawa are 3-9-0 over the past few weeks after being thumped 5-1 at Montreal on Saturday, although DJ Smith refused to be too downbeat.
“We made a couple of obviously major mistakes that ended up in the net,” admitted the Senators coach.
“But we had lots of chances, Grade A chances, and Jake Allen made a lot of saves, so he’s probably the difference.”
General manager Pierre Dorion has since been busy, starting with giving up a third-round draft pick to get defenceman Travis Hamonic back from Vancouver.
Nick Paul was then sent to Tampa Bay in exchange for Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round selection.
Tying down goaltender Anton Forsberg to a three-year contract extension was a steadier bit of business, but no less significant.
On the ice, though, Ottawa have faltered in the third period on numerous occasions this term, trailing 44-78 in the closing section.
That makes 1.91 for the Islanders to outscore their opponents over the final 20 minutes worth adding to our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
Philadelphia 2-1 NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Montreal 5-1 OTTAWA
Season head-to-head: NY Islanders 4-1 Ottawa, Ottawa 3-5 NY Islanders
