Wild vs Islanders: Prediction, Team News and Canadian Odds

Two of the five best save percentages in the league are in this game. Jesper Wallstedt is at .922 for Minnesota and Ilya Sorokin at .919 for the Islanders. Minnesota is home for the first time in two weeks. The call, the team news and the Canadian prices follow.

How to watch

What you can watch depends on where you are, because regional rights and blackouts both apply. The how to watch the NHL in Canada page has it by province.

Wild vs Islanders odds

Moneyline prices from 2 Canadian sportsbooks, captured on 2026-10-29. American odds throughout.

These are stored prices rather than live ones, and a hockey line moves the moment a starting goaltender is confirmed, so check before you bet. Availability varies by province: PlayNow is a provincial platform rather than open-market books, and the private sportsbooks operate where they hold a licence. Our NHL betting sites page sets out which operates where, and who is expected in net is on our projected NHL starting goalies page.

Minnesota is third, and have just played five straight on the road

The Wild are 9-3-2 on twenty points and third in the league, with a goal difference of plus thirteen. They have won three in a row.

All five of their last games were away from home, through Utah, Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton. They took seven points from them, which is a serious return from that itinerary.

Jesper Wallstedt has started twelve of fourteen at .922, because Filip Gustavsson is out until around 19 November with a hip injury. Brock Faber is gone until early November, and Jared Spurgeon and both Folignos carry return dates of today.

How they compare

Minnesota finished thirteen points clear of the Islanders last season and scored almost half a goal a game more. The power-play gap was the big one: 25.2 per cent against 16.5, which is nearly nine points and much the weaker of the two.

The Islanders are eighteenth and without Barzal

The Islanders are 6-4-2 on fourteen points. They beat Nashville 4-3 past regulation on Tuesday and have won three of their last five.

Mathew Barzal is out until around 7 November with a knee injury, and Alexander Romanov is gone for the season with one of his own. Matias Maccelli is out to the middle of November.

Ilya Sorokin is the reason the record holds up: 5-3-0 at .919 across eight starts, with Semyon Varlamov 1-1-2 behind him. Thirty-six goals in twelve games is modest.

The last five have split, and three of them cleared six

Minnesota leads the all-time series 22 wins to 16 across thirty-eight meetings and have taken three of the last five.

Those five produced 7, 7, 4, 9 and 5 goals, an average of 6.4. Three of them cleared six. That sits oddly beside two goaltenders this good, which is the tension in the total.

Team news

Who starts in goal is an open question. New York Islanders has split between Sorokin (8 starts, .919) and Varlamov (4, .891), and Minnesota Wild has split between Wallstedt (12 starts, .922) and Pickard (2, .833). Season rates say little about who takes the warm-up, and the market reprices as soon as a club names someone.

Everyone else’s absentees are on the NHL injury report.

Players to watch

Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota. Twelve starts of fourteen at a .922, carrying the crease while Gustavsson is out.

Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders. A .919 across eight and the reason a club scoring three a game is above water.

Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota. Among the league’s leading scorers and home for the first time in two weeks.

Score prediction

Minnesota Wild 3-2 New York Islanders. Two goaltenders above .919, and Minnesota is third in the league.

Wild vs Islanders prediction

Minnesota is the side we would take. Third against eighteenth, home after a long trip, and three straight wins behind a goaltender at .922.

The case for the Islanders is Sorokin and the schedule. His .919 is barely behind Wallstedt, Minnesota is missing four including Faber and Gustavsson, and a club returning from five on the road is not always sharp. Our lean: Minnesota, and the under if the total sits at 6 or higher. The head-to-head average of 6.4 is the one thing arguing the other way, and two save percentages this high usually win that argument.

For how these two measure against the league, see the NHL power rankings. The NHL schedule covers the rest of Thursday’s games.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.