There was a lot to like about the New York Islanders’ performance in Game 1 against the highly favored Carolina Hurricanes.
The Isles were the better team through the first 40 minutes of the match and arguably deserved a better fate than a 3-1 loss on Saturday night.
You can look at the first game as the Isles’ way of showing that they won’t be an easy out in a series that no one gave them a chance to win, or you can look at it as a missed opportunity.
If you can’t beat the Canes if you play this well, then when will you beat them?
The betting market seems to be leaning towards the latter as the Islanders are +205 underdogs for Game 2. That’s where they closed before Game 1.
Islanders vs. Hurricanes Odds, Predictions
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It certainly wasn’t the Hurricanes’ best performance, but you’re not going to have your best game throughout the playoffs, and it’s important that you find ways to win even when you’re a little out of sync.
A big part of that ability is having solid goaltending, which is exactly what happened for the Canes on Saturday night.
Frederik Andersen was brilliant in goal for Carolina, stopping 34 of 35 shots and keeping the Hurricanes in the contest when the Islanders tipped the ice in the second period.
Coming into the series, you would think that the Islanders would be the team that would rely on their goaltender to steal a game or two, but the script was flipped in the first game.
Another surprising problem in the first game was that neither team got much from their best players.
Jake Guentzel, Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis were kept silent by the Isles, while Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson were held in check by the Hurricanes.
In other words, both teams have room to improve in the second game.
Betting on the NHL?
It’s really difficult to draw any conclusions from the first game of a best-of-seven series, but it seems fair to suggest that the Isles will be tougher than most people anticipated before puck drop on Saturday.
And given that their price is still above +200, it doesn’t seem too strange to back the underdog at this spot.
The bet: Islanders (+205, DraftKings)
New York Post
