Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Islanders Prediction: Betting on the guests

Prediction for the NHL match which will take place on January 1. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Pittsburgh has been trying to prove that they won't drop out of the fight for cup spots lately. After the start of the regular season, it looked like the Penguins would continue to flounder among the league's underdogs with a very old roster. Still, the leaders are gradually starting to step up, and that's why the results are going up. In the last eight meetings, the Pennsylvanians only once remained without points, losing to Toronto 0:7. Once again, they lost to Ottawa in overtime - 4:5, and in the remaining six cases, they won. This surge allowed the Black-and-Yellow to move to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, two points behind the top-8.

For the Islanders, the current regular season is going very well. In recent years, the Islanders have accustomed us to the fact that they are not included in the fight for the highest places, but now they intend to change our minds. From the very beginning of the season, they started to actively collect points and are still doing it. At the same time, it is not without failing games. For example, right after a break in the championship, the Islanders suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh - 0:7. In the next game, they beat Washington 5:1, climbing to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Pittsburgh won the first head-to-head meeting of the season, 7:0, but that game took place just four days earlier. As a rule, such close battles between the same rivals are completely different regarding the scenario. Therefore, the Islanders should be closer to success in the upcoming confrontation. Moreover, we know very well that they have fought productively with the Pennsylvanians before, having won four previous meetings in a row. New York should also be fresher, as they've had 24 hours more to recover than the Black-and-Yellows since their last meeting.

The confrontation between Pittsburgh and the Islanders has been surprisingly entertaining and productive in recent years. In seven previous head-to-head meetings, the rivals have combined to score 53 pucks (7.57 per game on average). In the upcoming battle, there should also be no problems with goals, as the offense of both teams has recently played at a high level, and the Islanders need to rehabilitate themselves after the recent crushing defeat in a face-off.