The New York Islanders (19-13-10) battle with the Minnesota Wild (17-20-5) in their second matchup this season on Monday, January 15, at 5:00 PM ET at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild are slight favorites for success, with a moneyline at -120.

The Islanders just had a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, which made their last five games look fairly bad at 2-3 overall. In those three losses, they failed to score over three goals and they gave up at least three goals on all of them.

Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders with 45 points and also happens to have 12 goals this season. Their current goal leader is Brock Nelson, who has 19 goals overall and will be a big key for their chances at success.

The Islanders are averaging 3.02 goals and taking 29.5 shots a game. While they have a fairly low success rate in power plays, they still have it better than the Wild. At the moment, they have scored 28 times, have allowed 34 goals, and have a power play percentage at 24.6.

Their defense is also slightly better than the Wild, as they are allowing 3.29 goals and 34.9 shots a game from their opponents. They also have a penalty kill percentage at 72.8.

The Wild are currently on a four-game losing streak and must break the cycle soon. Their most recent defeat was a 6-0 shutout against the Arizona Coyotes. In all four losses, they have allowed four goals or worse per game.

Kirill Kaprizov is leading them with 34 points and has also chimed in with 13 goals. As for their scoring leader, Joel Eriksson Ek currently boasts 15 goals so far.

The Wild are needing to be aggressive on the offensive end, as they are only getting 2.81 goals and taking 30.0 shots a game. Their power play percentage is not too far off from the Islanders’, as they have scored 25 goals and have allowed 40 with a power play percentage at 18.0.

They are giving up 3.38 goals and 30.3 shots each game to their opponents. They also have a comparable penalty kill percentage at 71.8. 

MyBookie showcases their betting odds in this NHL battle, revealing the Minnesota Wild as slight contenders (-120) to win. Their first meeting was back in November of last year, in which the Wild won 4-2.

If the Wild did not have their losing streak under their belt, they would look much more appealing here.  However, the Islanders have not done much better in their last five. Look for the Wild to finally break the cycle.