BEST LINES:  Pinnacle -½ +153 BET 365 -½ +135 SportsInteraction -½ +135 5DIMES -½ +135

Posted at 12:55 PM EST. 

7:05 PM EST. Barry Trotz will face his Stanley Cup winning team for the first time and we have to trust that he wants to beat Washington more than his former players want to beat him. Trotz didn’t really want to leave D.C. but the Caps didn’t want to pay him his market value so he split. He loves those layers but he doesn’t love the owner and GM and will surely want to stick it to him. Whether that means anything or not remains to be seen but it goes to motivational levels and in that regard, Trotz has a score to settle while the Caps do not.

The Islanders are winning under their new bench boss and they’re also an impressive 6-2-2 at home and they come to play every night. What the Islanders lack in talent, they are making up for in effort, grit and determination but this wager is more about fading the Capitals than it is about getting behind the Isles although we do like the Trotz v the team that wouldn’t pay him.

The Capitals continue to defy logic with another six wins in their past seven games in which they were the second best team on the ice in all of them but one. Over their recent surge of good luck, the Caps were outshot by Montreal 44-34 in a 5-4 win, outshot by Chicago 39-27 in a 4-2 win and outshout by Detroit, 32-20 in a 3-1 win. The charts below (Detroit at Washington on Nov. 23) is a good representation of many of Washington’s games lately in and you’ll notice that Detroit was all around the net while the Caps were not.

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The Caps rank 23rd in Corsi For % during five-on-five play and the reason they are winning games is not because they are playing well but because their puck luck has been off the charts. They are excellent fade material as road chalk and we’re not going to relent on that position unless their play gets better.

Therefore:

OT included - NY ISLANDERS +101 for 1 unit.

Regulation only - NY ISLANDERS -½ +153 for 1 unit. 

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