NHL Betting & Odds
The NHL is the biggest Ice Hockey league in the world. Featuring famous teams like the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Boston Bruins. The season runs from October to April as teams fight it out to qualify for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Each team plays 82 matches each, meaning that there are plenty of opportunities throughout the season to bet on your favoured team. At LiveScore Bet, we have fantastic odds and a range of markets for the NHL betting.
The NHL consists of 24 teams that are based within the USA and Canada. The league is divided into two divisions, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference and they are made of two divisions each. The Eastern Conference has the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions while the Western Conference has the Central and Pacific Divisions. Each Division is its own mini-league consisting of eight teams. Each team plays 82 games – 41 at home and 41 away. A team is awarded 2 points for a win, and 1 point for a tie. You can bet on the winner of the overall NHL, The winner of the Easter or Western Conferences and the winners of the four divisions.
At the end of the 82-game regular season, the top eight teams go into a playoff and compete to get through to the Stanley Cup final. The final is then a best of seven matches. This means that the cup could be decided over seven matches or it could be settled within four, depending how dominant a team is.
Betting on Ice Hockey
When betting on the NHL, there are several markets available. If you are familiar with sports betting, then you may recognise know some of the markets here.
Moneyline or Match Bet
This is a straightforward bet where the punter would place money on the team that they think will win the match. Odds for each game differ depending on the form of the two teams. To increase odds bettors can create accumulators by predicting the outcome of several matches.
Over/Under Bets
In an over/under bet, the bettor is placing a wager on the total number of goals within a match. This isn’t a specific number, instead, the bettor is deciding whether there will be over or under a specific number of goals within the match. There is always a line of .5, for example, the most common under/over bet in NHL betting is over or under 6.5 goals. This bet is a great way to increase odds on a match and it can also be combined with other bets as part of an accumulator.
Puck Line Bets
In a puck line bet, is a type of handicap bet where the punter places money on a team to win or lose by a certain number of goals. In a puck line bet, the favourite to win the match is given a negative goal spread and the underdog is given a positive goal spread – this is then added or subtracted from the final score of the match.
For example, if team A are the favourites they will be given a negative goal spread to overcome and Team B will be given a positive. This will look like this:
- Team A +1.5
- Team B -1.5
If the gambler places money on team A, they would need to win the match by more than 2 goals or more for the bet to be a winner. Alternatively, if the bettor places money on team B and they lost by 1 goal the slip is still a winner. This is a great bet to make top vs bottom of the table clashes more exciting.
You can choose the handicap that your favoured team has to overcome by betting “alternative puck line” here you just choose the number of goals that the team has to overcome or hold on to for the bet to win.
Double Chance
With a double chance bet, the bettor increases their chances of placing a winning bet by betting on two potential outcomes in one bet. The bettor can choose between the following:
- Team A to win or tie
- Team B to win or tie
- Team A or Team B to win – no tie
This is a good bet if it is a close match or if a high amount of money is placed on the outcome. Odds for this bet will be shorter than other markets as there is less potential for the bet to lose.
Check out our betting promotions page for our best betting offers. New members get a free £20 free bet when placing a £10 bet.