Count on Marco Kasper and Matthew Schaefer igniting the ice. Witness a rising rivalry featuring young talent and scoring fireworks as the Red Wings and Islanders clash.
Thursday features a loaded slate of games that feature marquee matchups with an important game out of the East. Two teams young and on the rise cause of their prospect talent with the Detroit Red Wings and their trio of rookies squaring off against 2025 top pick Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders.
The Red Wings are coming off a tough loss on Thursday to the Buffalo Sabres and will look to split their road back-to-back in a tough spot against a surging Islanders team coming off three straight wins.
The clash should present plenty of betting opportunities and promises excitement across the league. We’re looking to build on our early-season momentum and continue the strong player prop success that fueled last year’s run with Mitch Marner, Mark Scheifele, Wyatt Johnston, Rasmus Dahlin, Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Hellebuyck.
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Detroit Red Wings vs New York Islanders Best Bets:
Red Wings -1.5 (+240)
Over 5.5 Goals (-150)
Matthew Schaefer Over 0.5 Points (-110)
Marco Kasper Over 0.5 Points (+130) Longshot Pick
The biggest storyline for the Islanders this year has by far been the emergence of their 2025 first overall pick in Matthew Schaefer, who wasn't expected to make a ton of noise in his rookie campaign as an 18-year-old but that has been the complete opposite. The young blueliner is smashing records with points in all six of his NHL games with a pair of goals and five assists on the season, trailing only behind Colorado's Cale Maker for points by defensemen this season.
The Red Wings will have their hands full managing the young talent but they won't be afraid to deploy some of their own youngsters as the trio of Emmitt Finnie, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård all made the main roster and have made their impact felt in several ways. Finnie has been the most notable breakout, playing on the team's top line with superstars Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. So far this season, the trio have ten combined goals with Finnie adding his third goal of his young career on Wednesday in the loss to Buffalo. This also doesn't account for the two games Raymond missed but is back in the lineup.
Both goaltenders in Detriot's Cam Talbot and New York's David Rittich have excelled in this matchup before. However, this Detroit team has a very different feel to it with their season-opening winning streak that led to a 5-1-0 record out of the gate. This coupled with their AHL Grand Rapids Griffins record at 4-0-0 gave the organization their best start to a season in their affiliated history. Although Rittich boasts an impressive 4-0-1 record and a 1.68 goals-against average in six games against Detroit, I anticipate the 33-year-old journeyman goalie will seem more vulnerable this time.
While he delivered a standout 31-save performance against the Oilers earlier this season, his struggles late last year, allowing three or more goals in six of his final nine starts and conceding a total of 31 goals, explained why he didn’t return to the LA Kings. We should see a start like this one as Detroit has bested New York in four straight games including three straight wins on the road at UBS arena. The Red Wings should bounce back in a big way with Schaefer helping keep his team in it, pushing the game to the over.
Our longshot pick of the game isn't a particularly adventurous one as we look for Marco Kasper to finally record another point. Since scoring in the second game of the season against Toronto Maple Leafs, the Austrian center hasn't found the scoresheet since with that being his only point so far.
The Red Wings will need scoring from different points of their lineup if they want to beat the Islanders and Kasper should finally benefit more from his linemates. Alex DeBrincat has been off to a hot start this season with six assists through seven games yet he hasn't been able to get his center in on the action. This should change as should Kasper's past against the Islanders, where he has no points in three career matchups against them.
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