- 1 New York Islanders vs Edmonton Oilers: McDavid’s 36 points meet a top-five defense
- 2 New York Islanders: Sorokin at .919 and a roster missing Barzal all season
- 3 Edmonton Oilers: 5-0-0 away from home, without Hyman and Levi
- 4 Free NHL Prediction: New York Islanders vs Edmonton Oilers
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
New York Islanders vs Edmonton Oilers: McDavid’s 36 points meet a top-five defense 
Connor McDavid has 8 goals and 28 assists through 13 games. That’s 36 points, and it’s the main reason Edmonton went into the weekend at 9-2-2 with the most goals per game in the NHL, 4.23.
The Oilers bring that attack to UBS Arena on Saturday, 31 October, with puck drop at 2:00pm ET. They’re 5-0-0 on the road this season, and they arrive after a 4-0 home win over Calgary on Wednesday in which Jarry made 24 saves for the shutout.
The Islanders went into Thursday’s game in Minnesota at 6-4-2, fourth in the Metropolitan, with points in six of their last seven games. Their 2.58 goals allowed per game ranks fifth in the league, and their penalty kill, at 85.4%, ranks sixth.
That penalty kill against Edmonton’s power play is the matchup I’d watch. The Oilers convert 35.7% of their chances, first in the NHL. The Islanders also win 55.0% of their faceoffs, second in the league, which helps on the kill.
New York beat Edmonton twice last season: 4-2 on 16 October 2025 and 1-0 in Edmonton on 15 January 2026, when Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves and Anthony Duclair scored on a late power play. It was the Islanders’ first win in Edmonton since 2017.
Neither team plays Friday. Edmonton has had two days off since Wednesday but then plays the Rangers on Sunday, so this is the front end of a back-to-back for the Oilers.
New York Islanders: Sorokin at .919 and a roster missing Barzal all season 
Ilya Sorokin is the reason the Islanders’ defensive numbers look the way they do. He’s 5-3-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and a shutout in eight starts. Semyon Varlamov is 1-1-2 with a .891 save percentage, and his shootout win in Nashville on Tuesday was his first victory since 14 November 2024.
Bo Horvat leads the team with 6 goals and 13 points. Matthew Schaefer, 2 goals and 9 assists, is second, and Brayden Schenn has 9 points including his 300th career goal. After those three the scoring thins quickly: Simon Holmstrom, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Matias Maccelli are at 6 points each.
The injury list hurts the offense. Mathew Barzal hasn’t played this season because of left knee inflammation and had no timeline as of 21 October. Maccelli and Calum Ritchie went on injured reserve on 26 October with lower-body injuries suffered on 17 October, and defenseman Alexander Romanov is out six to eight months with a torn ACL.
Scoring is where the Islanders fall short. They average 2.92 goals a game, tied for 19th, and their power play converts 15.8%, 25th. They also shoot 26.0 times a game, basically level with what they allow, 26.3.
Home ice has helped. The Islanders are 4-1-1 at UBS Arena, against 2-3-1 on the road, and they’ve beaten Anaheim 3-2 and lost only in overtime to Los Angeles in their last two home games. Saturday ends a stretch in which they play in Minnesota on Thursday, then fly home.
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Edmonton Oilers: 5-0-0 away from home, without Hyman and Levi 
The road record is the one that stands out. Edmonton has won all five of its away games, including a 6-2 win in Utah on 17 October. The two regulation defeats both came at Rogers Place: 7-2 to Toronto on 24 October and the 4-3 shootout loss to Detroit two nights later.
Leon Draisaitl has 12 goals and 24 points. Evan Bouchard has 22 points from the blue line, 7 of them goals, and Vasily Podkolzin, playing on McDavid’s line, has 8 goals and 13 points. With McDavid’s 36, that’s four players at 13 points or more.
Zach Hyman is out. He was pushed into the boards by Detroit’s Englund on Monday and is expected to miss at least a week with a possible concussion. Devon Levi, 6-1-0 before he got hurt, has been out with an undisclosed injury since 23 October, and Frederik Andersen is on injured reserve.
That leaves Jarry as the likely starter. He’s 3-1-2 with a 2.95 goals-against average and a shutout, the 4-0 win over Calgary, and his save percentage sits somewhere around .885. Matt Tomkins is the backup. Behind them, Edmonton gives up 3.23 goals a game, 19th, and kills just 71.4% of penalties.
The penalty kill matters less against this opponent than it would against most. The Islanders’ power play is 25th at 15.8%, so Edmonton can afford a couple of trips to the box. The Oilers are 9-4 straight up across all games with a price posted, and eight of those 13 went over the total.
Probable lineup New York Islanders: Holmstrom, Horvat, Palmieri; Heineman, Schenn, Eklund; Palat, Pageau, Duclair; Cizikas, Chaffee. Defense: Stanley, Schaefer; Pelech, Pulock; DeAngelo, Mayfield. Goalie: Sorokin (not confirmed).
Probable lineup Edmonton Oilers: Podkolzin, McDavid, Draisaitl; Dach, Nugent-Hopkins, Kapanen; Formenton, Michaels, Frederic; Joseph, Dickinson, Howard. Defense: Ekholm, Bouchard; Shea, Murphy; Mukhamadullin, Emberson. Goalie: Jarry (not confirmed).
Free NHL Prediction: New York Islanders vs Edmonton Oilers
Our prediction: Edmonton Oilers to win (moneyline)
I’m with Edmonton. The Oilers are 5-0-0 on the road, they score 4.23 goals a game and their power play is converting more than a third of its chances. The Islanders’ defense is good, but it has to hold McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard for 60 minutes with a lineup that’s missing Barzal, Maccelli and Romanov.
New York has real arguments. Sorokin shut Edmonton out last January, the Islanders won both meetings last season, and they’re 4-1-1 at home. Edmonton also plays the Rangers on Sunday, so there’s a chance of a lighter workload late on. None of that outweighs a 36-point McDavid and an Islanders team scoring 2.92 a game.
The puck line is available for Edmonton -1.5 at 3.03, which tells you the market sees the Oilers as clear favourites. No moneyline had been posted at the time of writing; check that the price is 1.45 or longer before backing it.
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