New Jersey Devils (14-19-6) at New York Islanders (25-10-3)
NHL Hockey: Thursday, January 2, 2020 at 7:00 pm (Nassau Coliseum)
The Line: New York Islanders -210 / New Jersey Devils +188 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders meet Thursday in NHL action at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The New Jersey Devils look for a win after splitting their last 10 games. The New Jersey Devils are averaging 2.6 goals per game and are scoring on 14.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Kyle Palmieri leads New Jersey with 15 goals, Taylor Hall has 19 assists and Blake Coleman has 104 shots on goal. Defensively, the New Jersey Devils are allowing 3.5 goals per game and are killing 80.2 percent of their opponents power plays. Louis Domingue has given up 17 goals on 123 shots faced and Mackenzie Blackwood has allowed 81 goals on 868 shots. The New Jersey Devils have allowed three or more goals in five of their last 10 games.
The New York Islanders look for a win after splitting their last eight games. The New York Islanders are averaging 2.9 goals per game and are scoring on 20.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Mathew Barzal leads New York with 16 goals, Brock Nelson has 16 assists and Anthony Beauvillier has 73 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Islanders are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 80.6 percent of their opponents power plays. Semyon Varlamov has given up 53 goals on 661 shots faced and Thomas Greiss has allowed 43 goals on 534 shots. The New York Islanders have allowed three or less goals in nine of their last 12 games.
The Devils are 25-52 in their last 77 games as an underdog, 18-41 in their last 59 games as a road underdog and 19-45 in their last 64 road games. The Islanders are 10-3 in their last 13 games as a home favorite, 12-4 in their last 16 home games and 24-10 in their last 34 overall. The over is 5-1 in Devils last 6 overall. The under is 12-5-1 in Islanders last 18 overall. The Devils are 1-10 in the last 11 meetings in New York and 7-20 in the last 27 meetings. The home team is 11-5 in the last 16 meetings. The favorite is 15-5 in the last 20 meetings.
The New Jersey Devils can't win on the road and haven't provided much value in the underdog role. The New York Islanders are the most profitable team in hockey by far at the moment and have done a lot of their best work on their home ice. If it's not broken, there's no need to fix it. I'll side with the New York Islanders at home and take the PL for added value.
Randy’s Pick New York Islanders -1.5
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter @WizardOf0dds