Islanders vs Canucks

The Islanders roll into Vancouver facing a Canucks team mired in a brutal 10-game losing streak, while New York’s own form has been choppier but still firmly in playoff position in the Metropolitan, making these two clubs feel like they’re skating in different weight classes right now. With the current roster showing Ilya Sorokin anchoring one of the league’s better defensive outfits and Mathew Barzal driving play, the main concern on the New York side is health: Bo Horvat is listed as out for this road trip with a lower-body issue, and the Isles are already without key contributors like Kyle Palmieri and Alexander Romanov for the long term, which trims some finishing and defensive depth. Vancouver’s problems are deeper: Thatcher Demko is on injured reserve, several regular forwards (including Marco Rossi and Teddy Blueger) are banged up, and the result has been a string of lopsided losses despite having offensive weapons like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser who have historically done damage against New York, including Pettersson’s multi-point outbursts in prior meetings. Even with Horvat’s revenge narrative against his old team likely sidelined, the gap in structure, goaltending, and current confidence between a playoff-chasing Islanders group and a last-place, injury-riddled Canucks squad makes New York at a moneyline around 143 a reasonable favorite with modest value, so the recommendation is Islanders moneyline at Grade B+. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:51([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/_/name/nyi/new-york-islanders))

With Vancouver stuck in a double-digit losing streak largely defined by offensive anemia and blowout scorelines, and the Islanders profiling as a low-event team (hovering under three goals for per game and under three against), the total sitting at 6 with both sides priced around 118 leans slightly high for this matchup. New York is missing Horvat and Palmieri, two of their better finishers, which should pull down their scoring ceiling on the road even against a Canucks defense that has leaked goals behind backup goaltending in Demko’s absence, while Sorokin’s form and the Isles’ top-10 penalty kill tend to suppress opponent shot quality and special-teams scoring. Recent head-to-head meetings have swung both ways—there have been wild, high-scoring nights in the Horvat trade aftermath, but also more recent 4-1-type scorelines that look a lot like what you’d expect from the current version of the Isles grinding down a slumping opponent. Given Vancouver’s fragile confidence, their banged-up forward group, and the playoff-focused incentive for New York to lock this down into a structured road performance rather than a track meet, the lean is Under 6 at roughly 118 with a Grade of B, expecting something in the 3-1 or 4-1 range more often than a genuine shootout. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:51([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/_/name/nyi/new-york-islanders))

The puckline case rests on whether the Islanders’ structural edge and Sorokin’s goaltending can stretch their moneyline advantage into multi-goal territory against a Canucks squad that has been routinely outscored by multiple goals during its 10-game skid, especially with Demko and several regulars sidelined, and with Pettersson’s current season numbers reflecting more production in losses than in strong, complete team wins. New York has enough firepower, even without Horvat and Palmieri, to exploit Vancouver’s thin blue line—Barzal, Anders Lee, and a deep defense group still headlined by Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are capable of turning sustained territorial pressure into late insurance markers, particularly if the Canucks open up in the third trying to salvage points in front of a restless home crowd. That said, the Isles’ natural tendency to sit on leads, their middling power play, and the volatility of a desperate team trying to stop a freefall all make laying -1.5 at roughly 162 riskier than simply backing the road side on the moneyline, especially in a midseason spot where banking two points matters more than style points in the playoff race. With those dynamics, Islanders -1.5 on the puckline is a lean rather than a core position, graded at C+ given the higher variance and the reliance on empty-net or late-cover scenarios to cash. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:51([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/_/name/nyi/new-york-islanders))