The Columbus Blue Jackets (7-11-1) and their suffocating penalty killing defense host the New York Islanders (13-8-0), one of the league’s weakest power play offenses, at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
New York is coming off a 3-0 win over the Oilers on Wednesday. The Islanders committed five penalties in the game, though they held Edmonton without a power play goal. Jean-Gabriel Pageau led the Islanders with two goals.
Ilya Sorokin had a great performance with 49 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Columbus fell 3-1 to the Canadiens on Wednesday. Mathieu Olivier was the only player to score for the Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo saved 26 of 28 shots (.928%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Islanders won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 4-3 (OT) victory on November 12, their fourth straight win against Columbus. Brock Nelson (2G 0A), Scott Mayfield (1G 1A), and Sebastian Aho (0G 2A) each had two points to lead New York.
Emil Bemstrom (1G 1A), Jake Bean (0G 2A), and Gustav Nyquist (0G 2A) each had two points to lead Columbus. Sorokin got the win despite saving only 26 of 29 shots (.896%).
FACING OFF
New York is averaging 3.29 goals per game for the season, 12th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Blue Jackets team that is allowing 4.26 goals a game (31st). Meanwhile, Columbus has found the net 2.95 times a game on average, 20th in the league, and the Islanders are allowing opponents to score 2.62 goals per game (6th).
The Blue Jackets’ 30th-ranked power play offense (13.64%) will face a challenging test against the Islanders, who are the league’s third-best penalty killing team (84.29%).
New York, meanwhile, has scored on 21.31% of their power play opportunities (16th), which the visiting team will be looking to improve on against Columbus’ 20th-ranked 77.78% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 23 points this season, Mathew Barzal is the top skater for the Islanders. He is among the league leaders with 21 assists (2nd) and has added two goals of his own. In the net, Sorokin (8-5-0) is New York’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.37 GAA and a .926% save percentage, fifth-best in the league. Johnny Gaudreau leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 18 points. He has seven goals and 11 assists. Korpisalo (3-2-1) has the best goals against average for Columbus at 4.17.
He has a save percentage of .897%. Elvis Merzlikins (2-5-0) has played the most games in net for the Blue Jackets this season. He has a 4.74 GAA and a .864% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
New York is 6-5-0 on the road this season. Columbus is 6-7-0 at Nationwide Arena this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Columbus Blue Jackets (+155)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
