New York Islanders Vs. Colorado Avalanche Odds, Picks, and Predictions (3/1/22)

By Scott Steinberg | Feb 28, 2022, 7:11pm

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The New York Islanders beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-0 on Sunday at the Honda Center. Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves in the victory, while valuable fourth line center, Casey Cizikas had a goal and assist in the victory. The Islanders are 20-21-8 with 48 points, sixth in the Metropolitan Division. The Colorado Avalanche beat the home team Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Saturday evening. Nathan MacKinnon scored the game winner and his 15^th goal of the season at 6:06 of the third period as Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves in the victory. The Avalanche are 39-10-4 with 82 points, first in the Central Division.

New York Islanders Vs. Colorado Avalanche Betting Odds

The Islanders are 0-6 in their last six games following a win. New York is 5-22 in their last 27 games vs. a team with a winning record. Over is 5-1 in the Islanders last six road games. New York is 5-2 in the last seven meetings with Colorado. The Avalanche are 43-9 in their last 52 home games. Colorado is 4-0 in their last 4 games playing on 2 days’ rest. In their last 51 games, the Avalanche are 43-8 vs. a team with a losing record. Colorado is the favorite to win the 2021-22 Stanley Cup at +400.

New York Islanders Odds

Matthew Barzal, the Islanders leading scorer with 37 points (12 goals and 25 assists), did not play in Sunday’s victory over the Ducks due to a lower body injury, he’s questionable for the games vs. the Avalanche. He has 10 points on the power play and averaging 18:28 of ice per game this year. In his ninth season, Brock Nelson leads New York in goals with 19, he has 28 points on the season; second on the team in scoring. The center has six points on the power play this season for New York. Islanders captain, Anders Lee has scored 14 goals, three on the power play and averaging 16:40 of ice time per game. In his 14^th season, Josh Bailey has 22 points (three goals and 19 assists) while averaging 17:27 of ice time per game. Zach Parise, in his first season as an Islander has 21 points in 49 games (seven goals and 14 assists). He has scored two game winning goals and chipped in five assists on the power play in 2021-22. Anthony Beauvillier has scored 19 points on the season (eight goals and 11 assists). He’s scored four power play goals and averaging 16:47 of ice time per game.

Noah Dobson is leading New York’s defensive group in scoring with 26 points (nine goals and 17 assists) and is a +2. He has scored nine goals since December 5^th, the most by any NHL defenseman. Dobson has eight points (three goals and five assists) in the past eight games. Additionally, he leads the team with 94 blocked shots and averaging 21:13 of ice time per game. Adam Pelech leads the Islanders in plus/minus at +13 this season. He’s third on the team in blocked shots with 72 and leads the defensive unit in takeaways with 25. In his seventh season, Pelech has 15 points on the campaign (three goals and 12 assists) and averaging 21:17 of ice time per game. Scott Mayfield is second on the team in blocked shots with 84 and averaging 19:57 of ice time per game. Ryan Pulock who has played in 24 games this season, blocked seven shots in the victory over the Ducks on Sunday.

Ilya Sorkin has started 35 games for the Islanders this season. The New York netminder is 17-11-7 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.37 GAA. Sorokin has five shutouts this season, second in the league. Per NHL.com, he’s the fourth active goalie with eight shutouts through his first 30 NHL wins.

Colorado Avalanche Odds

Nazem Kadri is fourth in the NHL in scoring with 66 points (22 points and 44 assists). He’s averaging 19:13 of ice time per game and is a +22 on the season. Kadri leads the Avalanche in game winning goals with six in 2021-22. It’s curious that he doesn’t have more support for the Hart Trophy while playing on the best team in the league. Mikko Rantanen is second on the team in scoring with 65 points (26 goals and 39 assists). On the power play the seventh-year winger has 22 points. He’s tied for second on the team in plus/minus at +34 and averaging 20:50 of ice time per game. Rantanen is +3500 to win the 2021-22 Hart Trophy. Gabriel Landeskog leads the Avalanche in goals with 28 this season, he has 54 points overall. The Colorado captain is a +27, averaging 20:23 of ice time per game. In his 11^th season, he’s won 55% of his face-offs this campaign. Nathan MacKinnon has 51 points in 38 games this campaign; additionally, MacKinnon has 17 points on the power play (four goals and 13 assists). In his last five games he has six points (five goals and one assist).

Cale Makar is one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He’s the favorite to win the Norris Trophy at -135. In his third season, Makar leads all NHL defensemen with 18 goals and is first in points by defenseman with 56. He’s blocked 59 shots and has delivered 60 hits in 2021-22. He’s tied for second on the team in game winning goals with five and tied for second on the Avalanche in plus/minus at +34. Devon Toews has 39 points this year (nine goals and 30 assists). In his second season with Colorado, he leads the NHL in plus/minus at +42. Samuel Girard has 27 points in 51 games this season (five goals and 22 assists). He’s averaging 21:45 of ice time per game and has blocked 72 shots, ranked second on the team. Veteran Erik Johnson has played in 53 games in 2021-22. He leads the Avalanche in blocked shots with 90 and hits with 119. Offensively, he’s chipped in 16 points (five goals and 11 assists) on the year.

Darcy Kuemper has started 37 games for the Avalanche this year. He’s 26-6-2 with a .920 save percentage and a 2.46 GAA. Kuemper, in first season with Colorado is +5000 to win the Vezina Trophy. With the trade deadline about three weeks away will the Avalanche look to trade for another goalie such as the Blackhawks Marc-Andre Fleury to help meet their goal of winning the Stanley Cup.

New York Islanders Vs. Colorado Avalanche Picks & Prediction

New York is scoring 2.5 goals per game, 27^th in the league and taking 29.3 shots per game, 27^th overall. Four players on New York have scored at least 10 goals, but they only have one player with 30 or more points. Scoring has been a big problem for the four-time Stanley Cup champions this season. Defensively the Islanders are allowing 2.7 goals per game, ranked seventh in the league and 31.1 shots per game, which is 14^th overall. Colorado is scoring four goals per game, ranking them second in the NHL and attempting 34.9 shots per game, fifth overall. In their lineup Colorado has five players with at least 50 points this season (four forwards and one defenseman) and three players with 22 or more goals. On the defensive side, the Avalanche are allowing 2.8 goals per game which ranks 13^th in the NHL and yielding 31 shots a game, 13^thoverall. I’ll take Colorado in this matchup with under six combined goals scored in the contest.

Scott Steinberg

Scott has been a sports fan since he received a New York Mets jacket as a toddler. He’s been playing fantasy baseball and football for over 20 years, dating back to Frank Thomas being one of his first fantasy baseball picks. As a professional, he has covered the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, and NCAAB and is looked to as the go-to guy for fantasy sports amongst family, friends, and co-workers.