Surging Islanders Continue Playoff Push Against Host Kings
Islanders vs Kings NHL Odds: Los Angeles Priced -150 Favorite
The New York Islanders’ playoff push continues Monday (10:30 p.m. ET) against the Los Angeles Kings, the third leg of a four-game road trip.
Los Angeles opened as -1.5 favorites on the puck line at +165 odds and -150 on the moneyline. Meanwhile, New York is +1.5 at -180 odds and +140 to win outright. Oddsmakers pegged the over/under at six goals with a slight lean to the under at -120 odds.
What can bettors expect? Read on as we break down the Islanders vs Kings NHL odds in our game preview.
New York Islanders at Los Angeles Kings 
Date, time:
Location: Crypto.com Arena; Los Angeles
Betting Trends
The New York Islanders are 33-30 against the puck line, including 19-12 away from home. New York’s games have trended toward the over, as the Islanders are 35-24-4 against the over/under. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings are 28-35 ATS, including just 11-20 at home. As for the over/under, the Kings are 23-37-3.
Be sure to remember these betting trends when assessing the Islanders vs Kings NHL odds.
Picking Up the Pace
Better late than never, the Islanders have begun to heat up. Winners of six straight, the Islanders are 10-5-3 under interim coach Patrick Roy and 29-20-14 overall. With approximately five weeks left in the regular season, the Islanders (72 points) sit eighth in the Eastern Conference, tied with Detroit for the final playoff spot.
The Islanders have picked up their offense of late, scoring 31 goals over their last six games, spurred in large part by Brock Nelson. Nelson has multiple points in four of the last five games, including two goals in a 5-3 victory over the Red Wings on Feb. 29.
Nelson leads the Islanders with 29 goals and is third in points with 56, trailing Matthew Barzal (68 points) and Bo Horvat (58). The Islanders rank 18th in scoring and 12th on the power play, having converted 22.9% of their chances.
To fully capitalize on their offensive resurgence, the Islanders need better production from Ilya Sorokin. The Russian netminder has regressed after a Vezina-caliber season in 2023, recording a career-worst 3.01 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Their 3.24 GAA ranks 21st overall.
New York is just 14-12-5 straight-up on the road but has fared well for bettors, going 19-12 ATS. It has gone over the total in 18 of those 30 games for a cover rate of 60%. Keep that in mind when analyzing the Islanders vs Kings NHL odds.
Kings Hanging Tough in West
Los Angeles (32-20-11) is in relatively strong shape for a playoff spot, sitting seventh in the Western Conference with 75 points. As of Sunday, only two points separated the no. 6-8 seeds in the NHL playoff bracket.
The Kings are coming off a 4-1 loss to Dallas on Saturday, their second in three games. After Kevin Fiala spotted the Kings a lead just 26 seconds in, the Stars responded with four unanswered goals.
Oddsmakers still consider the Kings longshots, pricing them +1200 to win the West and +2200 to win the Stanley Cup. Eleven teams currently have shorter odds, nine of which are 12/1 or better.
The Kings have a trio of 50-point scorers in Fiala (57), Anze Kopitar (53) and Adrian Kempe (51). However, they have struggled to generate consistent offense, ranking 20th in scoring (3.05) and 15th on the power play (22.2%) according to NHL scores. Trevor Moore’s 24 goals lead the team.
At the same time, the Kings have gotten solid play in net from Cam Talbot. The veteran netminder — playing for his third different team in three seasons — has a 2.48 GAA, his lowest since 2016-17 with Edmonton. The Kings’ team GAA of 2.64 ranks third in the NHL behind Florida (2.34) and Winnipeg (2.41).
Despite that, Los Angeles is just 28-35 ATS for a cover rate of 44.4%. It is also 13-11-7 straight-up at home, including 11-20 ATS.
Handicapping the Game
New York is still in a precarious spot for the playoffs, but it is clearly trending in the right direction. Whether it’s coincidental or not, the Islanders have played much better since Roy took over last month. They went 5-3-2 in February and entered the weekend unbeaten in March.
Can they sustain that success? Perhaps, but again, they will need more consistent performance from Sorokin.
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