Islanders vs. San Jose: NHL Match Prediction
The Islanders' home series will continue on January 19 with a match against San Jose. The Islanders have slowed down after a successful series of games on the road and lost both games in New York. The Sharks could have gotten close to the playoff zone at one point, but now they have settled in the basement of the conference standings again and are unlikely to get out of it anytime soon. Who will get the points at UBS Arena? Find out from our prediction for the match

Command Analysis

New York Islanders

Current form
The Islanders have again moved away from the playoff zone and are still in the basement of the Eastern Conference standings. New York is in 15th place with 41 points after 44 games. With the onset of winter, the Islanders have improved the quality of their game somewhat and have earned a little more than half of the points in games this winter. After a series of defeats towards the end of 2024, Patrick Roy men went on an away tour and showed themselves well on the road. They beat Boston (5:4, OT), Vegas (4:0), and before returning to the ice at UBS Arena, they achieved success in Salt Lake (2:1). The Isles were unable to beat the Ottawa goalie and lost to Ottawa dry (0:2), and a day later they suffered a big defeat to Philadelphia (3:5).
New York has regained its status as the conference lowest scoring team. The Islanders still look rather lackluster in attack. In their last six games, they have only made 14 accurate shots, although in their last four games, they have managed to score nine goals. The club leading scorer is only 61st in the league overall list. Anders Lee, as captain, has made a big contribution to the result and has made 36 effective actions (20+16).
Semyon Varlamov remains in the visitors' infirmary, but Ilya Sorokin also recently fell ill and returned to the ice only in the last game against Philadelphia. The Russian was unable to help his teammates win and only stopped 19 shots on his own territory. This season, he has not been the best at the last line of defense, making only 90% of saves.
Disqualifications and injuries
Hudson Fasching, Alexander Romanov, Maxim Tsyplakov and Mike Riley will not be able to participate in the upcoming meeting. The participation of Simon Hallstrom and Semyon Varlamov is questionable.
Interesting trends for betting
- The Islanders are winning 55% of their faceoffs.
The Islanders are good at this metric and take most of the faceoffs.
- The hosts earn only 5.36 penalty minutes per match.
New York takes very few penalties and plays with extreme discipline.

San Jose Sharks

Current form
San Jose is gradually settling in the basement of the conference table and is now unlikely to rise above 14th place in the West. The team coached by Ryan Warfovsky has only 34 points after 47 games and is already 15 points behind Calgary, which is in eighth place. Throughout December, the Sharks demonstrated a weak level of hockey, but gradually began to recover in 2025. In early January, the hosts continued their home series and unexpectedly beat Tampa (2:1) and New Jersey (3:2), but after a short break, they lost to Vegas for the third time this season (2:4). Before the match in Michigan, the Sharks lost in Utah (1:2), and then showed a lackluster game at home against Minnesota (1:3). The current trip began for the visitors with a victory in Michigan over Detroit (6:3), but just a day later they suffered a major loss in Ohio to Columbus (1:4).
Aleksandr Georgiev remains the team starting goalie after joining it from Colorado. The Russian has stopped 88.97% of shots and has yet to make a single shutout for his new club. Yaroslav Askarov had a good debut for the Sharks, but so far he has managed to displace Georgiev as the Sharks' first goalie. The young goalie has a 91.74% save percentage.
The hosts' offense is once again going through hard times. In the last five games, Mario Ferraro team has only made 11 accurate shots and only once has it scored more than two times in a game. Mikael Granlund remains a key player in the Sharks' offense. The forward has made 37 effective actions (12+25) during the current regular season.
Disqualifications and injuries
Klim Kostin, Nikolay Kovalenko and Logan Couture will not be able to take part in the upcoming fight due to injuries. Vitek Vanecek participation is questionable.
Interesting trends for betting
- San Jose receives 7.74 penalty minutes per game.
On average, sharks are eliminated at least four times per game.
- San Jose averages 23 hits
The Sharks play a pretty tough brand of hockey and commit a lot of physical attacks.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total under 1.5 goals
In five of the Islanders' seven games, the first period was scoreless.
1.92Bet 2nd period: Islanders to score
The Isles have scored in the second period in three of their last six games.
1.35Tip and bets
The Islanders quickly fizzled out after a successful away series. Patrick Roy men lost both home games and played very poorly in defense, allowing seven goals in 120 minutes. New York remains the lowest scoring team in the conference, so San Jose may well give the opponent a run for their money, since the visitors' main problems are in defense. The Sharks unexpectedly crushed Detroit in Michigan and failed in Ohio in a match against Columbus. We believe that the Sharks will hang on to the game and not lose by more than one goal. We offer a bet on the second team winning with a plus handicap.
Our prediction is San Jose win with Asian handicap (+1.5) for 1.75
Bet on individual total
San Jose hasn't been playing too badly in attack this season, but Ryan Warfovsky men haven't been able to boast of good execution of their chances lately. The Isles haven't been holding their defense very well in the current series of games on their home court, and have conceded seven times in their last two starts alone. We believe that the Californians will be able to open up their opponent defensive redoubts at least twice.
Betting Tip - San Jose individual total more than two goals for 1.60
Bet on total
New York plays with a constant eye on its goal and tries to concede as little as possible. Matches involving Anders Lee squad are rarely productive and delight with a large number of goals. In the confrontation with San Jose, everything can be radically different. The Sharks do not sit back in defense and go forward from the first seconds. Let play a bet on the total over.
Betting Tip - total over five goals for 1.53