CHI Blackhawks vs NY Islanders Prediction: Don’t expect many pucks

Prediction for the NHL match which will take place on January 20. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Chicago continues a global personnel rebuild, which is problematic to combine with decent goals. The Hawks are proving it in practice, showing very mediocre results. Since the start of the regular season, they have been losing points and are now in a colossal crisis. The reason for that is a full infirmary. All this led to the fact that they beat only Calgary and San Jose - 4:3 and 2:1 in the last ten meetings, respectively, and therefore, the Western Conference standings remain only in 15th place.

Islanders is another team that has been showing very modest results lately. In recent years, we have expected the Islanders to solve big problems, but something prevents them every time. They started the regular season well, comfortably in the playoff zone, but they didn't last long. In the last nine meetings, New York suffered six defeats in regulation time; Colorado lost in overtime - 4:5 and won only twice against Arizona and Toronto - 5:1 and 4:3, respectively. Such a modest stretch has sent the Blue and Orange to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, but they are only one point behind the Cup Final Eight.

Chicago and the Islanders currently sit outside the playoff zone of their respective conferences. The only difference is that the Hawks are already far behind the Cup Eight and, therefore, have no real tournament motivation for a positive outcome. The Islanders are in a completely different situation; although they are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, they are only one point behind the top-8, so they continue to battle for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In addition, the head-to-head statistics favor the Blue and Orange, as they have won three of the last four meetings.

There is no reason to expect high-scoring activity from the upcoming clash. The rivalry between Chicago and the Islanders has been poor in recent years in terms of performance: in the four previous head-to-head meetings, the rivals have only managed 16 goals for two (4.00 per game on average). Right now, the Islanders are not in the mood for spectacular hockey, as it's much more important for them to pragmatically collect points as they continue their fight for the top 8, while the Hawks have too many personnel losses to engage in an open exchange of shots.