The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Alexis Lafreniere, will make his NHL debut on Thursday as his New York Rangers take on the New York Islanders in what will be both clubs’ first game of the 2021 NHL betting season.
The Rangers took three of four games a season ago but with the new NHL divisions, these intra-city rivals will see each other eight times, including again this Saturday. NHL Oddsmakers expect this first matchup to be tight with the home team a slight -105 underdog. The total is 6, shaded to the Under.
The Rangers will start sophomore goalie Igor Shesterkin (2020: 10-2, 2.52 GAA, .932 SV%) while the Islanders will counter with veteran Semyon Varlamov (2020: 19-14-6, 2.62 GAA, .914 SV%).
Here are our free picks and predictions for New York Islanders at New York Rangers for Thursday, January 14 (7:00 p.m. ET).
New York Islanders at New York Rangers Betting Preview
Injuries
Islanders: Sebastian Aho D (Questionable).
Rangers: Mika Zibanejad F (Questionable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting Trend to Know
The underdog is 4-0 SU in the last four meetings. Find more NHL betting trends for Islanders vs. Rangers.
Moneyline Pick
The New York Rangers were one of the most surprising teams a season ago as this young group reached the playoffs but were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the qualifying round.
The Rags finished in the Top 10 in scoring last season and had the eighth-best powerplay. This is a team led by a core of young and exciting players that should improve in 2021. The addition of Lafreniere, along with one of the brightest young goalie duos in Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, make the Rangers one of the biggest potential breakout teams of the season.
The Islanders are anything but exciting, being a team that relies heavily on defensive play to be successful. The Islanders finished last season Top 8 in goals against at 2.79 per game—but also Bottom 10 in goals for at 2.78.
With a training camp that was brief and didn’t allow players to ramp up, it could take the Islanders some time to play their defensive-style of hockey.
If yesterday’s games are any indication, defensive mistakes could be prevalent in the early going of the season, which would seemingly affect the Islanders more. They will also be without two important pieces from a year ago in defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Devon Toews. Their No. 1 center, Mathew Barzal, also just got back on the ice after settling a contract issue.
We love a good home dog.
PREDICTION: New York Rangers ML (-105)
Over/Under Pick
It’s no surprise, with their stingy defense and low-scoring output, that the Islanders were one of the best Under teams last season going 29-36-6 O/U.
A lot has changed with this team heading into this season and we cannot expect Barry Trotz’s squad to play like they did last year without barely any practice before the regular season.
The Rangers can put up points as they scored 3.33 goals per game last year and were priced in the 6.5-total range nearly every contest. They are a young team that makes mistakes on the backend but can make up for it with offense.
In the four games these two clubs played last season, the average total was 6.5 with the Over hitting three times. There were 18 goals were scored in the first two games of the season yesterday and we could easily see a price jump in Overs if it turns into an early-season trend.
The Islanders will likely find themselves with 5.5 totals later in the year, but it might be a great time to play some NHL Overs.
PREDICTION: Over 6 (-105)
Islanders vs Rangers Betting Card
- New York Rangers ML (-105)
- Over 6 (-105)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s NHL Islanders vs. Rangers picks, you could win $28.12 on a $10 bet?
Use our NHL parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
Where Can I Bet on the NHL?
You can bet on NHL odds at every online and casino sportsbook, including NHL moneylines, puck lines, Over/Under totals and a ton of NHL prop odds. Head over to our best-suggested sportsbooks for the top spots to bet on NHL odds in your area.
