New York Islanders vs Chicago Blackhawks: Game preview, predictions and odds | December 15, 2024

The Chicago Blackhawks will host the New York Islanders for the second time in the span of a week on Sunday. On Thursday, the two teams went head-to-head in New York, with the Islanders picking up a 5-4 win. After Chicago's 4-1 defeat against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the team will be back in action on the second leg of a back-to-back.

On the flip side, the Islanders haven't played since Thursday's win over Chicago, which returned them to the win column after a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Chicago Blackhawks vs New York Islanders: Head-to-head & Key Stats

Today's game between the Blackhawks and the Islanders will be the second and final meeting of the season between these two teams after New York's win on Thursday.

The Islanders are 48-47-20-7 against the Blackhawks all time, and are 22-31-5-4 on the road in Chicago, as per Statmuse.

At 30-9-19, the Blackhawks are bottom of the Central. They look to snap a two-game losing streak and improve their poor form, which is 2-7-1 in their last 10. Chicago has scored 73 goals and conceded 96 across 30 games, averaging 2.43 for and 3.2 against per game.

Meanwhile, the Islanders are 31-12-12 and look to climb up from the bottom half of the Metropolitan. New York has scored 83 goals and conceded 94 across 31 games, averaging 2.67 for and 3.03 against per game.

Chicago Blackhawks vs New York Islanders: Preview

Since parting ways with coach Luke Richardson, Chicago hasn't been able to turn things around the way they had hoped. With troubles finding the back of the net, the team has an uphill battle if they want to have any hope of a postseason appearance.

Despite that, over the past few games, Connor Bedard has seemed to find his mojo with the puck in his hands, putting on a dazzling display of highlight-reel moves. In addition, while Chicago lost to the Islanders on Thursday, Bedard finished the game with a goal and two assists, a good sign for Chicago.

On the flip side, the Islanders are heading into tonight's game with three wins in their past five games. Much like the Blackhawks, the team faces an uphill battle if they want to make a postseason appearance given how competitive the Metropolitan Division is.

Chicago Blackhawks vs New York Islanders: Odds & Prediction

Ahead of today's game, the Islanders are sitting as slight favorites on most major US-based sportsbooks.

On Bet365, New York is a -180 favorite while on the flip side, Chicago is a +150 underdog. These odds mirror those seen on DraftKings, however, on FanDuel, the odds are closer to even with the New York Islanders sitting as a -162 favorite and Chicago as a +134 underdog.

This means that, on FanDuel, it would take a $162 bet on New York as the favorites to win $100 while a $100 bet on the Chicago Blackhawks would win $134.

Prediction: New York 4, Chicago 2