The San Jose Sharks were everyone's pick to break through and make the playoffs this season with their young roster, but the season’s first month and a half has shown that it might've been too early to heap those expectations on the roster. Unfortunately, Mike Grier heard the clamor to make the playoffs and might’ve rushed into adding a bunch of veteran depth to the blueline, and the pieces haven’t fit early.
The New York Islanders are also searching for a win after dropping three games in a row, with the most recent loss coming in overtime to the New Jersey Devils. One team will have to end their lengthy losing streak in this matchup, and neither team has really given us any reason to trust betting on them.
Two struggling defenses make us look at the total here, as the Islanders allowed another five goals on Saturday, pushing their recent form to 14 goals allowed over their past three games. The Sharks have done them one better, allowing 15 goals over their past three games. These offenses can be explosive when given the opportunity, and they should have plenty of them against the respective defenses. Take this game to go over the total so you don’t have to bet on either of these disappointing teams to actually win.
Islanders vs Sharks prediction: Over 6.5 (-105) available at the time of publishing. Playable at this number.
