by Chuck Sommers
Sunday, Nov 07, 2021
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Where to watch: Bally Sports Wisconsin, Bally Sports North, MSG+
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Wild -125, Islanders +105
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: Wild -125, Islanders +105
Season record
Islanders: 5-2-2
Wild: 7-3-0
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Islanders - Wild preview and analysis
Recent form
Islanders: won four of five; won 2-0 at Jets on Saturday
Wild: won two straight; won 5-4 (SO) at Penguins on Saturday
It’s been 10 games into this season and you surely can’t say that the Minnesota Wild don’t have a flair for the dramatic.
Case in point, Saturday night to go from a two-goal deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins to winning 5-4 in a shootout. Now the Wild return home on Sunday with a matchup against the New York Islanders who are also off to a strong 5-2-2 start.
The Wild trailed 4-2 at 8:45 of the third period after Kasperi Kapanen completed a hat trick to put Pittsburgh in great position. Jared Spurgeon cut it to 4-3 at 16:41, and then Ryan Hartman tied it with 2.2 seconds remaining.
"Just a scramble at the net," Hartman said. "Got it out to [Dumba]. I thought [Dumba] was going to score. I was just looking at the net."
The Wild went on to win the shootout 3-2. Kirill Kaprizov, Frederick Gaudreau and Spurgeon each had two points for the Wild as they started the season winning seven of their first 10.
It’s the kind of run that Zach Parise would love to be on with the Wild right now, but after a double buyout of Parise and Ryan Suter, it’s a new era in Minnesota the likes of which we never thought would happen.
Parise returns to Minnesota for the first time Sunday with an Islanders team coming off an impressive 2-0 win against the surging Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Ilya Sorokin recorded 24 saves for yet another shutout -- he had 42 against the Vegas Golden Knights back in late October -- and Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored for New York, who will soon be hosting a home game at UBS Arena on the horizon.
"We know our goaltending is very strong and very capable," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "You look at the certain stats, you can really tell your team is playing as a team and connected to each other. I like that we had 19 blocked shots. Winnipeg puts a lot of pressure on your net ... and we had 19 or 20 blocked shots."
The Islanders have rebounded well since losing 3-2 to the Nashville Predators on Oct. 30, following that with a 6-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens and that 2-0 win at Winnipeg. Sorokin has a strong case of going back out there since he only saw 24 shots, but Semyon Varlamov is expected to get the call in net.
Kaapo Kahkonen, meanwhile, is expected to start in goal for the Wild after Cam Talbot got the victory on Saturday.
Prediction
No matter who’s in goal, this is going to be a very fun goaltender matchup and a game I’d expect to be low-scoring. The Wild are no longer the dull, boring, defensive-first team that averaged 14 shots per game. They have a fun forward group that will make life tough on opposing goalies, but I do like New York not seeing a lot of action last night to get a much-needed win in Minnesota to bring this last bit of the road trip to a promising end. Islanders 3-2
Betting trends
The Islanders are 4-4 ATS this season.
The Wild are 2-2 ATS following a stretch of five straight games of 30 shots or more on goal.
Projected lines
Islanders:
Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Kyle Palmieri
Zach Parise -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech -- Scott Mayfield
Zdeno Chara -- Ryan Pulock
Andy Greene -- Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov
Wild:
Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno
Kevin Fiala -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Ryan Hartman
Brandon Duhaime -- Nico Sturm -- Nick Bjugstad
Adam Beckman -- Connor Dewar -- Kyle Rau
Alex Goligoski -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Jon Merrill
Kaapo Kahkonen
Statistical leaders
Islanders:
Points: Brock Nelson -- 9
Goals: Brock Nelson -- 7
Assists: Kyle Palmieri & Josh Bailey -- 5
TOI: Ryan Pulock -- 21:41
Goalie: Ilya Sorokin -- 5-2-2, 1.98 GAA, .939 SV%
Wild:
Points: Kirill Kaprizov -- 10
Goals: Ryan Hartman -- 5
Assists: Kirill Kaprizov -- 8
TOI: Matt Dumba -- 23:17
Goalie: Cam Talbot -- 7-2-0, 2.85 GAA, .904 SV%
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
