Who is favoured, Nashville Predators or New York Islanders?

New York Islanders, at 56.0% in PuckCast's preseason forecast. That is a rating-based forecast; the full model read, with goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of puck drop.

What is a preseason forecast?

A win probability from each team's regressed preseason rating and home ice, the same ratings behind the 2026-27 projected standings. Those ratings are calibrated at the season level, for standings and playoff odds; this single-game percentage is a plain rating formula and has not been graded on its own yet. It is deliberately unsure about any single game, and the confidence grade says how far it leans.

When does the real prediction publish?

Inside the seven-day window before the game. The model re-scores it on every refresh until puck drop, with the confirmed starting goalies, and this page shows that read instead of the forecast.

Nashville Predators at New York Islanders, Mon, Jan 18: prediction and odds forecast

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2026-27 forecast · Mon, Jan 18, 3:00 PM ET

Nashville PredatorsNSH

93 proj. pts · 47.6% playoffs

Juuse Saros · 0.894 SV%

Bvs3:00 PM ET

New York IslandersNYI

A preseason forecast from each team's regressed rating and home ice, the ratings behind the projected standings. The full model read, with the starting goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of the game and replaces this page’s numbers. How the model works

The read

Preseason ratings · last season’s record

at 5v5 last season the two were level on expected goals (47.7% to 47.7%); NYI's power play ran at 16.5% against a NSH kill at 81.7%.

In goal, neither team has named a starter. Last season Ilya Sorokin (NYI) saved -6.3 goals above expected to Juuse Saros's -28.0, on save percentages of 0.906 and 0.894.

None of that is the model read. This is a rating-and-home-ice forecast; the full prediction — confirmed goalies, rest and form, priced against the market — publishes inside the seven days before puck drop and replaces these numbers. New York Islanders over Nashville Predators is where it starts, not where it ends.