Check out a top prediction and pick for tonight’s New York Islanders vs. Vegas Golden Knights matchup as part of Thursday’s 10-game NHL slate.

One of two games in the NHL late slate pits the New York Islanders against the Vegas Golden Knights. With both teams above .500 and putting plenty of shots on net, this looks like an exciting contest to tune in for with betting value abound.

Get ready for the action with a Islanders vs. Golden Knights prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Thursday night.

Islanders vs. Golden Knights prediction, preview

New York Islanders

While expectations remain somewhat reserved this season, the Islanders are above .500 at 8-6-2 with a goal differential of zero. They’ve won their last two games and enter tonight with a little bit of momentum as well. New York sits 10th in scoring with 3.31 GF/GM largely thanks to Bo Horvat’s 20 points (12G/8A) as the first-line center, while Kyle Palmieri and Matthew Barzal also have 12 points apiece. The real star of this show though is No. 1 pick Matthew Shaefer, who’s notched 12 points in his first 16 NHL games at just 18 years old. While the defenseman’s production is impressive, the unit’s play isn’t as strong overall as the Islanders give up 3.19 GA/GM behind poor presence between the pipes. Neither Ilya Sorokin or David Rittich have a SV% above .900, though the former starts tonight with a better GAA at 2.90 compared to 3.41. On special teams, New York falls 21st in PP% (17.7%) and 17th in PK% (78.4%).

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights started strong this season but have hit a rough patch in recent days. They’re 7-4-4 but have just one point in their last three games. Vegas hangs its hat on defense with 2.93 GA/GM, due in no small part to talent on the blue line and some decent play from starter Akira Schmid with a 2.51 GAA, though his SV% is just .901. The Golden Knights have plenty of talent on offense though as the team averages 3.20 GF/GM. Jack Eichel’s 22 points (8G/14A) are a team-high and the Mitch Marner acquisition is paying off nicely with 19 points as a team-best +10 in +/-. Ivan Barbashev also has 16 points while Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev have 12 and 11 each. The absence of the injured Mark Stone is unfortunate for the top-six, but the Golden Knights have the firepower to make it work without him. They’re also 12th in PP% (22.6%) and 19th in PK% (77.5%).

Islanders vs. Golden Knights pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Golden Knights as -185 home favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Islanders enter with +154 odds to win outright. The total sits at 6.5 combined goals.

Targeting the total makes some sense tonight since both teams put plenty of shots on goal. Vegas and New York are respectively sixth and seventh in shot attempts per game with 29.7 and 29.6, so we could see near-elite levels of pressure on both goaltenders. Both Schmid and Sorokin have been a bit leaky this season, the latter in particular, and there are plenty of scorers on both rosters. For those who may feel a bit worried about the fact Vegas allows the fourth-fewest shots per game to opponents, the Golden Knights’ team total may be an even better play than the game total itself. With one of the NHL’s best top-sixes at forward, I quite like them to record over 3.5 goals tonight.

Best Bet: Golden Knights over 3.5 goals (-110)