New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers – NHL Playoff Series Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Florida Panthers and New York Islanders meet in a five-game NHL play-in series. 

The Florida Panthers finished their regular season losing six of their last nine games and struggling on the defensive end more times than not. The Florida Panthers averaged 3.3 goals per game while allowing 3.2 goals per game. The Florida Panthers are averaging 32.7 shots per game while scoring on 21.2 precent of their power plays, and they’re allowing 32.3 shots per game while killing 78.5 percent of their power plays. Mike Hoffman leads the Panthers with 29 goals, Jonathan Huberdeau has 55 assists and Aleksander Barkov has 172 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 151 goals on 1,505 shot attempts and Sam Montembeault has given up 39 goals on 356 shots faced. The Florida Panthers are one of the more explosive offensive teams in the league, but their lack of defense and consistent goaltending leaves reasons for concern. 

The New York Islanders ended their regular season on a seven-game losing streak and allowing three or more goals in eight of their last 10 games. The New York Islanders averaged 2.8 goals per game while allowing 2.8 goals per game. The New York Islanders are averaging 29.6 shots per game while scoring on 17.3 precent of their power plays, and they’re allowing 31.2 shots per game while killing 80.7 percent of their power plays. Brock Nelson leads the Islanders with 26 goals, Mathew Barzal has 41 assists and Anders Lee has 195 shots. Semyon Varlamov has allowed 110 goals on 1,278 shot attempts and Thomas Greiss has given up 73 goals on 838 shots faced. The New York Islanders are allowing 4.1 goals per game during their seven-game losing streak and those defensive issues are why it’s hard to trust them to make a serious playoff run.

These two teams met back in the 2015-16 playoffs and while the Panthers appeared to be the better team in most of those series, it was the Islanders who found a way to win in six games. It’s hard to pick a side in these short series’ because you have zero idea what you’re going to get from either side given that players have been on lockdown mode since March and I’m sure the fitness isn’t up to regular standards. The outcomes across the board are toss ups until we have something more to chew on.

With all that said, I’m leaning toward the Panthers. The New York Islanders looked awful the last time we saw them, and I believe in the Panthers offense more than anything else between these two teams. The Panthers are one of the most explosive offenses in the league and if that holds true here, they could win three shootouts to advance to the playoffs.