Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Islanders NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 5/26/2021
Pittsburgh Penguins (39-17-5) vs. New York Islanders (35-19-7)
May 26, 2021 6:30 pm EDT
The Line: New York Islanders -101 / Pittsburgh Penguins -122; Over/Under: -5.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders meet Wednesday in game six of the NHL First Round Playoffs at the Nassau Coliseum.
The Pittsburgh Penguins need a win here to save their season and force a game seven on Friday. The Pittsburgh Penguins are averaging 2.60 goals per game and are scoring on 20 percent of their power play opportunities. Jeff Carter leads Pittsburgh with three goals, Kris Letang has four assists and Jake Guentzel has 24 shots on goal. Defensively, the Pittsburgh Penguins are allowing 3.20 goals per game and are killing 78.6 percent of their opponents power plays. Tristan Jarry has allowed 16 goals on 163 shots faced.
The New York Islanders look for another victory to advance to the next round. The New York Islanders are averaging 3.20 goals per game and are scoring on 21.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Josh Bailey leads New York with three goals, Jean-Gabriel Pageau has four assists and Anthony Beauvillier has 19 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Islanders are allowing 2.60 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponents power plays. Ilya Sorokin has allowed six goals on 122 shots faced and Semyon Varlamov has allowed seven goals on 72 shots.
The Penguins are 8-3 in their last 11 road games and 27-12 in their last 39 overall. The Islanders are 22-8 in their last 30 home games and 2-5 in their last 7 overall. The over is 10-3 in Penguins last 13 road games. The under is 15-7-2 in Islanders last 24 overall. The Penguins are 7-2 in the last 9 meetings. The home team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings. The favorite is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a battle tested team that’s going to be hard to finish, and they’ve done some of their best recent work on the road. However, New York Islanders have looked like the better team these last couple of games and the defense has really set the tone in both of those victories. As I’ve said many times in the past, the Islanders are a team that’s built for playoff success given their defensive effort and their coaching ability. While I’m always rooting for game sevens, I have to lean toward the Islanders and the cheap price.
