| 31 January 2010
Over/Under 5.5 4:00 PM ET
The New York Islanders look to reverse a 4-game losing streak when they venture into Sunrise, FL this afternoon to take on the Florida Panthers.
Following a so-so start to the season, Florida has been much better of late winning 6 of their last 10 and taking points out of 8 of those contests. The Panthers should get an emotional boost out of the return of forward David Booth today following a 3 month convalescense courtesy of getting smoked by Philly's Mike Richards early in the season. The Panthers could use Booth's scoring touch as they currently sit #19 in team scoring averaging just 2.6 goals per game. Their power play is near the bottom of the league (#26) converting at an anemic 16.5%. Complicating matters for Florida is that they will missing top scorer Nathan Horton who was recently sidelined long-term with a knee injury. Horton is a guy who has finally blossomed into the player Florida hoped he'd be when they made him a high #1 draft pick several years ago. His offense and physical presence will be missed by the Panthers. Defensively, Florida is not all that great either as they allow a league-worst 34.3 shots per game. It is a testament to the strong goal-tending of Thomas Vokoun that they only yield 2.8 goals per game, but scoring against Florida is not all that difficult.
The Islanders (as noted) have been pretty dismal lately losing their lat 4 and 5 out of their last six. They haven't yet gotten the bounce they should get as #1 goaltender Rick Dipietro regains his form following a long injury rehab. Prior to the latest losing streak, the Islanders went a four game run that saw them knock off 4 of the elite teams in the NHL (Buffalo, New Jersey, Detroit, and Phoenix), which shows what these young Islanders are capable of. All that said, the Islanders are one of the weakest teams in the NHL offensively, averaging a mere 2.6 goals per game with a power play that's even weaker than Florida's. Things don't get much better for the Islanders defensively as they rank #23 in the league in team defense and are missing a couple of their top defenders ion Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek for this afternoon's contest.
Overall, this a match-up of tow of the waeker teams in the East and two teams that probably won't be in the playoff mix. Florida is heavily favored due to their home ice advantage, but I think the bookmakers have overshot on this one. I'll take the value on the visiting Lslanders today banking on the fcat that today might be the day that Dipietro really finds his game. It's a nice value if it happens but don't use the kid's college fund on this one.
Fitzy's Pick of the Night: New York Islanders (1 Unit)
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