NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Islanders Betting Odds Preview
Islanders Secured Third Place in Metro; Penguins Go Home

The Pittsburgh Penguins (38-31-12, 88 points) will fall short of the postseason after the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers last night (2-1).
Pittsburgh needed a Philly win but all they’re left with is a meaningless trip to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders (38-27-16, 92 points) who will start the playoffs with a series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
NHL betting lines show the Penguins opening as a -130 favorite with a total of 5.5 (over -120).
The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on the MSG Sports Network and Sportsnet Pittsburgh. Let’s get into our Penguins vs Islanders betting odds preview.
Penguins vs Islanders 
Day/Time:
Location: UBS ARENA
Streaming: MSG Sports Network/Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Penguins Hope to Continue Success Against Islanders
The Pittsburgh Penguins can fade away into the offseason knowing they made a good run of it to end the NHL season after a 9-10 start ultimately doomed Mike Sullivan’s team.
After that less than stellar beginning to the 23-24 season, the Penguins were 29-21-12 and 8-3 in their final 11 NHL games. Pittsburgh was tied for fifth with 12 overtime losses including four in their last five attempts to grab two points in the extra session.
Against the Islanders, things were a little bit easier for Pittsburgh after a 2-0-1 head-to-head regular-season mark with wins of 7-0 and 3-1 within four days of each other in December. New York got some revenge a couple of months later with a 5-4 win in overtime, leaving the Penguins with five of six points in the series.
Alex Nedeljkovic (18-6-7, 2.91, .904) will get the start between the pipes for the season finale’. The 28-year-old veteran finished the season on an 8-1-3 run.
Islanders Will Rest Players Against Pens
The oddsmakers know what’s up which is why the Pittsburgh Penguins are a road favorite. Patrick Roy will sit key players and limit the time of others with a date with the Hurricanes to start the NHL Hockey playoffs.
Even if we see guys like Bo Horvat (33 goals, 35 assists, 68 points) and Brock Nelson (33 goals, 34 assists, 67 points) it’s unlikely they’ll play their usual 18-20 minutes. It brings up an interesting dilemma for bettors because it’s easy to assume this will be an easy win for Pittsburgh.
If we know anything about Patrick Roy, he’s a competitor and would rather keep the momentum of an eight-game point streak alive than play dead for a division rival. Starting in goal for New York will be Semyon Varlamov (14-8-4, 2.60, .917). The 35-year-old Russian has won five straight starts, finishing the season 8-1-1.
Wagers Not As Clear Cut As You Might Think
We thought this would be a good spot to grab the home NHL team with some plus money, and it is, but there was some anticipation the number would give us something in the +120 range.
The people we’ve talked with said that the other side of the argument of blindly betting on Pittsburgh is that we don’t know how motivated they’ll be after learning of their playoff fate late last night.
Even if Roy sits NHL players or limits minutes, there’s an argument to be made that their bottom six guys will be motivated to show that they deserve more postseason minutes, therefore putting the mental advantage in the Islanders side of the ice.
Don’t overlook that Sullivan may also limit some of his key players like Roy, making this not as easy of a wager as it might appear. Early betting shows that professional money is on the Penguins while the overall ticket count (61%) is on New York, keeping this number steady.
In what should still be an entertaining National Hockey League score to monitor while watching other games, we’re going with New York and the +110 to give us another regular season win.
That’s it for our Penguins vs Islanders betting odds preview, we wish you all the best with your NHL picks and parlays on the final regular season nigh for the 2023-24 season.
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