New York Islanders vs. Minnesota Wild: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/28/2023

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN

Where to watch: MSGSN, BSN

DraftKings: Wild -135, Islanders +115

FanDuel: Wild -142, Islanders +118

BetMGM: Wild -135, Islanders +115

Caesars: Wild -135, Islanders +115

Islanders: 31-25-7

Wild: 33-21-6

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The New York Islanders will be playing the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, February 28 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The New York Islanders won against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, February 26 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg with a score of 4-0. The New York Islanders currently rank 4th in the Metropolitan Division.

Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season for the New York Islanders.

"Sometimes, it's easy. Sometimes, it's very, very hard," Varlamov said. "I was very hungry to play today, so for me it wasn't very hard to stay sharp."

Bo Horvat, Alexander Romanov, Brock Nelson and Adam Pelech scored for the Islanders (31-25-7), who have won three of four.

"I thought the guys the last few games here have been playing with discipline in our structure, and we're making it difficult for teams to generate a little bit." New York coach Lane Lambert said. "We came out of the gates well and only allowed one shot in the first period. … [Winnipeg] may have had some struggles lately, but we just wanted to focus on our game."

The Islanders outshot the Jets 12-1 in the first period.

"We expected them to jump in right away," Varlamov said. "[The Jets] are a hard team to play against here in their home arena. They always come out really hard and they always play a very strong first period. We knew this was coming and that's why we were really prepared. ... I thought that was the key of the game."

Anders Lee appeared to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead 1:30 into the first period, but a video review initiated by the Situation Room determined he deflected the puck in with a high stick.

However, Horvat did make it 1-0 with a short-handed goal at 7:56, surprising Rittich with a snap shot from above the right circle. It is Horvat's fourth short-handed goal of the season.

Romanov made it 2-0 with a point shot that beat Rittich high glove side at 4:22 of the second period.

"I thought our commitment level and our discipline, too, was very good tonight," Lambert said. "We pushed forward and we did a real good job of establishing our game."

Nelson extended it to 3-0 at 18:41 with a shot from the high slot after he put the puck between the skates of Kyle Connor to get open.

"It was a good play," Nelson said. "We weathered a little pressure in the D-zone. It was a nice play by Zach (Parise), got past (Jets defenseman Neal) Pionk and I cut to the middle."

Pelech scored into an empty net at 17:59 of the third period for the 4-0 final.

The New York Islanders have won five of their last 10 games.

The Minnesota Wild won against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, February 26 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota with a score of 3-2 in overtime. The Minnesota Wild currently rank 3rd in the Central Division.

Jared Spurgeon had two assists for Minnesota (33-21-6), which extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1). Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves.

"To be honest, everyone's working hard," Kaprizov said. "Everyone's trying and obviously I never want to be singled out. I work hard. So does the rest of the team. At the end of the day, we all come out, we play 60 minutes and do our best. I don't like to be singled out. I don't like to be compared, but I just go out there and do my job. Sometimes it goes in and sometimes I get a couple goals, but ultimately I just kind of play my game."

Mathieu Olivier put Columbus ahead 1-0 at 16:20 of the first period. Eric Robinson intercepted an Alex Goligoski pass and sent the puck to Olivier, who beat Fleury down low.

Elvis Merzlikins denied Kaprizov on a breakaway and a rebound attempt from Hartman 11 seconds into the second period to keep the 1-0 lead. Liam Foudy made it 2-0 at 3:04 when he tipped in Erik Gudbranson's centering pass.

Kirill Kaprizov cut it to 2-1 at 1:15 of the third. Ryan Hartman's wrist shot was redirected by Spurgeon, hit Columbus defenseman Andrew Peeke then deflected in off Kaprizov.

Kaprizov tied the game 2-2 at 6:00, scoring from the slot after Joel Eriksson Ek won a face-off during a 5-on-3 power play. It was his 16th power-play goal of the season, the most in Wild history.

"They knew how they were playing the game," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "Did we know we were going to get the result? No, but again there was no panic. We didn't know we were going to come back and win, obviously, but we had a good feeling about how we were playing the game. We were playing right and we were fortunate that we got rewarded."

Kirill Kaprizov completed a natural hat trick with 20 seconds left in overtime. Kaprizov finished a backdoor pass from Calen Addison at the right post.

"That guy does everything. It's crazy," Addison said. "… He might be the hardest working superstar ever. I mean, this guy goes to the corners like no one else, and he's not losing a battle ever. I mean, he does everything for us."

Kaprizov is the fifth player in NHL history to conclude a natural hat trick with an overtime goal.

"I wouldn't say it's one of the top games of my career," Kaprizov said. "I'd say there's been many games where you kind of have better chances or worst chances and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. I wouldn't say this is an above and beyond game.

"Obviously, a great game, a fun game, but I wouldn't say it ranks anywhere specific."

The Minnesota Wild have won six of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The Islanders need some sort of good luck to go their way, right? Islanders 3, Wild 2

Islanders are 19-12 off an under this season.

Islanders are 28-30 after a non-conference game the last 3 seasons.

Wild are 19-16 after an under this season.

Islanders:

Anders Lee -- Bo Horvat -- Matt Martin

Zach Parise -- Brock Nelson -- Kyle Palmieri

Arnaud Durandeau -- Casey Cizikas -- Hudson Fasching

Simon Holmstrom -- Otto Koivula -- Ross Johnston

Adam Pelech -- Scott Mayfield

Alexander Romanov -- Ryan Pulock

Sebastian Aho -- Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin

Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy

Jordan Greenway -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Brandon Duhaime

Mason Shaw -- Connor Dewar -- Ryan Reaves

Jake Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon

Matt Dumba -- Alex Goligoski

Calen Addison -- Dakota Mermis

Filip Gustavsson