The New York Islanders have the second-longest odds to make the playoffs of any Eastern Conference team (the Detroit Red Wings have the longest), yet they are the biggest favorite with the entire league on the ice! That speaks volumes about the Vancouver Canucks, but where is the value when it comes to the best Canucks vs Islanders prediction?
Simply calling for a New York victory doesn’t exactly provide that, but can we trust Vancouver to keep things close? Surprisingly enough, that is the direction we’d lean. However, while Canucks +1.5 is where we’d go if forced to make a pick on a side, we’d also rather not get burned by a meaningless empty-netter. So, we are instead going to root against goals. That’s not exactly considered the fun approach, but it’s how we prefer to lock in our best Canucks vs Islanders prediction.
Firstly, Vancouver’s expected goals per 60 is just 2.33/game, and New York’s strongest component is goaltender Ilya Sorokin (second-shortest odds for the Vezina Trophy). That’s also another way of saying that the Isles aren’t a high-powered offense. They aren’t the team that can best exploit the Canucks lackluster defense/goaltending, so we’re going with a lower-scoring game.
Canucks vs Islanders prediction: Under 6.5 (-130) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number or Under 6 at +100 or better.
