Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders Predictions, NHL Picks, Betting Tips 8/1/2020

Game: Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders

Date: Saturday, August 1, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Panthers (+115) Islanders (-138)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Scotiabank Arena is the venue where Semyon Varlamov and the New York Islanders (35-23-10, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) will play the Florida Panthers (35-26-8, 4th in the Atlantic Division) on Saturday. The Islanders open this game at -138 while the Panthers are priced at +115. The O/U opens at 5.5. The Panthers are covering 48.5% of the time, having gone 32-34 SU. The Islanders are covering 49.2% of the time, going 32-33 straight up.

The Florida Panthers step onto the ice holding a record of 35 wins and 26 losses, ranking them 4th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have racked up a total of 228 goals which has them sitting at 5th in the East and 6th in the league. Their goal differential is +4, ranking them 16th in the league. The Panthers currently have a total of 78 pts, which has them sitting at 18th in the league and 11th in the conference. With regard to shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 2,253 which has them sitting at 5th in the East and 9th in the league. As a team, Florida has a total of 1,212 hits which has them averaging 17.6 per contest. They currently have a total of 827 blocks for the year. The man in the crease for Florida is Sergei Bobrovsky from Ogdensburg, New York. He is 31 years old and has played a total of 2,806 minutes defending the goal for the year. Bobrovsky is conceding an average of 3.23 GAA which has him placed 30th among East goaltenders and 60th in the NHL. For the year, he has surrendered 151 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .900 which has him placed 26th among East goaltenders.

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The Florida Panthers will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 2 - 1 victory against the St. Louis Blues in their previous game. The Panthers had a rough night on the offensive side of the ice in the win. For this game, they finished 2 of the 34 shots they attempted. Additionally, they had 1 power play attempt and scored 1 goal on that opportunity. Florida ended up with a total of 4 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Panthers sat at 50 and the Corsi against was 54 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 48.1%. Their Fenwick sat at 36 while the Fenwick against sat at 32, which means they earned a rate of 52.9%. They took 30 face-off wins and lost 32 of the face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 46.2% and they had a PDO of 99.2 for this matchup. When it comes to their opponent, the St. Louis Blues racked up 27 shots. They had 2 minutes in the box and they notched 2 power play attempts.

The Islanders are the team on the other side of the ice and for the year they sit with 35 victories and 23 losses. When talking about goal differential, they are currently ranked 10th in the East and 19th in the league with -1. They have compiled a total of 189 goals for the year which is good for 13th in the East. New York has a team save % of .911 which currently has them ranked 8th in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a shooting percentage of 9.4% which is good for 11th in the East. In net for New York is Semyon Varlamov who is having an average season by surrendering 2.62 goals per game and that has him 11th among East goalies and 18th in the NHL among goalies. In the 2,517 mins he has been on the ice this season, he has surrendered 110 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .914, which places him at 12th among East goalies and 26th in the NHL among goalies.

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The New York Islanders played the Vancouver Canucks in a game where the Islanders ended up taking the loss by a score of 5 - 4. For this game, New York went home with a 50.0% Corsi rating. They got there by having a Corsi of 62 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 62. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 47.5% by earning a Fenwick of 47 and the Canucks earning a 52 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game New York played and they looked good in this game. Their PDO at even strength was 100.8 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 77.8%. The Islanders netted 4 goals of the 49 shots on goal they tried. They had 3 power play opportunities in this one but weren't able to score a goal. On the other side of the ice, the Canucks had 2 power play opportunities and came through by scoring 1 goal. New York gave way to 34 shots on goal and the Canucks ended up with a total of 6 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Florida (+115)

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