Wild vs Islanders Prediction & Best Bets

Game outlook

Minnesota is on the road playing New York at the UBS Arena stadium on Thursday, 1/12/2023 @ 7:30pm EST. Minnesota -109 was the opening favorite and current line is Minnesota -115.

On Thursday, the Minnesota Wild (22-14-4, 48 points, 3rd Central) visit Elmont, New York and UBS Arena to play the New York Islanders (22-17-3, 47 points, 6th Metro). In a shootout, the Minnesota Wild lost 4-3 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday. The Islanders have lost the last three and four of the last five games after being defeated 2-1 by the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. The Minnesota Twins have no players on their injury report, while the Islanders will play without Kyle Palmieri, Adam Pelech, and Oliver Wahlstrom.

There is strength at Minnesota's end of the ice

Minnesota allows an average of 2.85 goals per game, which is the 11th highest in the NHL. Wild defenses allow an average of 30.1 shots per game, which is 9th overall in the league. Minnesota's penalty kill unit is successful 78.8% of the time when the Wild are shorthanded, which is only 16th in the NHL. The Minnesota Wild's Marc-Andre Fleury has a 22-18 record with a 2.94 goals against average and a .901 save percentage in 25 appearances. So far, Fleury has only shut out one opponent. In 16 appearances, Filip Gustavsson is 9-6-1 with a 2.25 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

New York is a tough place to score

With an average of 2.69 goals allowed per game, the New York Islanders rank sixth in the NHL. As a team, New York allows 31.2 shots per game, which is 16th in the league. On penalty kills, the Islanders hold opponents scoreless 81.5% of the time, which is the 10th overall in the league. In 31 appearances, Ilya Sorokin has a 14-13-2 record with a 2.30 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. For the Islanders, Sorokin has three shutouts. In 13 appearances, backup Semyon Varlamov is 8-4-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.