Tuesdays are for NHL hockey — this week, we get an eight-game slate with plenty of fun matchups throughout the evening. At 8 p.m. EST, a surging Dallas Stars squad welcomes the upstart New York Islanders to American Airlines Center in what could be one of the most interesting contest of the evening between a playoff-proven team and one looking to make a name for itself among Eastern Conference hopefuls.
Check out an Islanders vs. Stars prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s contest.
Islanders vs. Stars prediction, preview
New York Islanders
Expectations for the Islanders entering this season revolved around signs of improvement rather than true hopes of a postseason push. Through the opening month, New York’s exceeded those goals with 22 points and looks firmly in the mix among the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders are 14th in scoring with 3.21 GF/GM while allowing 3.16 on the other end, good for 20th in the league. In scoring, veteran Bo Horvat leads the way with 23 points, but No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer sits tied for second with Matthew Barzal at 15 apiece. Kyle Palmieri and Jonathan Drouin also have 14 points each, while three other skaters are also in double-digits. The special teams play needs work with a 15.6% rate on the power play and 81.5% penalty kill rate, both of which need to be ironed out to make the Islanders a real threat in their conference.
Dallas Stars
On the opposite bench, the Stars enter with Stanley Cup expectations and plenty of star power at the top. Despite injuries to numerous players, this team has weathered the losses to the tune of 27 points, second-most among the Western Conference. Following a bit of a dry spell, the Stars are now 10th in scoring with 3.26 GF/GM largely behind the contributions of one of the NHL’s best top sixes — Mikko Rantanen (26), Jason Robertson (23) and Wyatt Johnston (21) are all scoring at a point-per-game pace while Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz have 17 and 16 points apiece. Tyler Seguin has also excelled as a play finisher, and Dallas boasts the second-best PP% in the league at 33.3%. The Stars are also ninth in GA/GM at 2.79, though the penalty kill is a weak point at just 75.4%, good for 25th among all teams. Still, this is a very talented team with what feels like too many stars to guard at one time.
Islanders vs. Stars pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Stars as -170 favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Islanders come in at +142 odds. The total sits at 6.5 combined goals.
Even with Dallas still missing Matt Duchene and losing one of its star defensemen in Thomas Harley, the visitors face a very difficult matchup on Tuesday. The Stars are loaded with talent and it’ll surely prove difficult for this somewhat weak New York defense to stop them. With Dallas riding a five-game winning streak and finally flipping to a positive goal differential of +10 over that span, there’s plenty of momentum on the home team’s side. They out-class the Islanders at most positions, though the Stars’ own depth looks a bit more shaky due to the various injuries they’re dealing with as well.
While netminders Jake Oettinger (2.75 GAA, .900 SV%) and Ilya Sorokin (2.91 GAA, .898 SV%) enter with pretty similar numbers, the former still gives Dallas a bit of a leg up between the pipes as well. The Schaefer show is fun, but the Islanders probably won’t emerge with an upset in this spot despite their respectable 6-4-1 road record.
