Montreal Canadiens vs New York Islanders Prediction: Expect a productive match

Prediction for the NHL match which will take place on December 17. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Montreal is having another mediocre regular season with no cup prospects. Martin St. Louis is gradually trying to build a capable team, but the process has taken too long, and numerous injuries are only worsening the situation. At the moment, Chris Weidman, Jordan Harris, Raphael Harvey-Pinard, Tanner Pearson, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dack are in the Red and Blue's infirmary. With those losses, counting on good results is problematic. The Canadiens have allowed five losses in their last seven games, beating only Seattle and Buffalo 4:2 and 3:2, respectively. That's only good enough for 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Islanders finally managed to reach the level that was expected of them all the last years. Every time the Islanders have had something preventing them from showing consistently good results, but now they are on a good run and are gradually improving their position. In the last eight meetings, they have not left the ice without scoring points, having won six times in that stretch, and they lost only to San Jose and Boston outside of regulation time - 4:5 each. If it weren't for the seven-game losing streak that hit the Blue and Orange in November, they would be doing quite well right now, but for now they sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Islanders approach the upcoming confrontation, being in much better condition than Montreal. In the previous eight games, the Islanders scored 14 out of 16 possible points, which in itself speaks volumes about their excellent form. The Canadiens have only two wins and five losses in their previous seven games. In addition, the head-to-head statistics are in favour of the Blue and Orange, according to which they have won three of the last four meetings. Now they are the favourites to win the battle.

We're used to the Islanders being a purely defensive team that gives the opponent territorial advantage, while stinging mercilessly on the counterattack. Recently, the situation has changed, as the Islanders have started to actively attack, and therefore the efficiency of matches with their participation has increased dramatically. In the previous nine meetings, the Blue and Orange scored and conceded a total of 72 pucks (8.00 per game on average), and in eight out of nine cases they scored at least three times and allowed their opponents to score at least three times.