NHL Live Betting Report: It pays to bet on Vegas and Boston, but avoid Edmonton and San Jose at all costs
Live betting is becoming increasingly popular when it comes to the NHL as it allows bettors to feel out the flow of a game before making a wager. Is Team A dominating the pace of the action in the first period? Does Team B look sluggish from the start?
Live betting provides a platform for intuitive bettors who trust their gut to pick the team they feel has been hotter from the opening puck drop. Stats are important when it comes to live betting, so we’ve created two charts for bettors to understand which teams have been the best live bets in the 2023-24 NHL season.
The first chart shows the records of all 32 teams when they score first, when they lead after the first period and when they lead after the second period. The second chart shows team records when allowing the first goal and trailing after the first and second periods.
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*Records as of November 7
| Team | After Scoring First | Leading After 1st Period | Leading After 2nd Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | 4-2-0 | 3-1-0 | 2-0-0 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 4-3-0 | 4-2-0 | 4-1-1 |
| Boston Bruins | 6-1-0 | 5-1-0 | 6-1-1 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 4-1-0 | 3-0-0 | 5-0-0 |
| Calgary Flames | 2-3-1 | 1-1-1 | 1-1-0 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 3-1-0 | 2-0-0 | 3-0-0 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 2-4-0 | 1-0-0 | 2-0-0 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 4-0-0 | 4-0-0 | 6-0-0 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 3-0-2 | 3-1-2 | 2-0-1 |
| Dallas Stars | 4-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 5-0-0 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 3-1-1 | 2-0-0 | 5-0-0 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2-4-1 | 2-0-1 | 2-1-0 |
| Florida Panthers | 4-1-0 | 3-0-1 | 4-0-1 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 5-0-1 | 5-0-1 | 6-0-0 |
| Minnesota Wild | 2-1-1 | 2-0-0 | 2-0-0 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 3-1-1 | 1-0-1 | 2-0-0 |
| Nashville Predators | 3-2-0 | 2-1-0 | 4-0-0 |
| New Jersey Devils | 2-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 5-1-1 |
| New York Islanders | 5-0-3 | 4-0-1 | 4-0-2 |
| New York Rangers | 6-1-1 | 3-0-1 | 4-0-1 |
| Ottawa Senators | 4-3-0 | 4-1-0 | 4-0-0 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 5-1-0 | 5-2-0 | 5-1-0 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 3-4-0 | 2-2-0 | 3-1-0 |
| San Jose Sharks | 0-3-1 | 0-1-1 | 0-2-1 |
| Seattle Kraken | 2-4-2 | 3-1-1 | 4-0-1 |
| St. Louis Blues | 4-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 4-0-0 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 4-0-0 | 4-0-2 | 4-1-2 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 4-1-1 | 3-0-0 | 4-0-0 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 7-0-0 | 5-0-0 | 8-0-0 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 7-1-1 | 5-1-0 | 7-1-0 |
| Washington Capitals | 2-0-0 | 3-0-0 | 2-0-0 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 3-1-1 | 1-0-0 | 3-0-1 |
Key Takeaways
Vegas has opened the scoring an NHL-best nine times this season, winning seven of those games. Vancouver is a perfect 7-0-0 when scoring first while Boston is 6-1-0. Betting the Golden Knights, Canucks and Bruins to score the game’s first goal has paid off through the first 12-13 games of the season. It’s also worth keeping in mind that Colorado, St. Louis, Vancouver and Washington are all undefeated when scoring the game’s opening goal and when leading after the first and second periods.
On the flip side, you’ll want to avoid betting Edmonton to score first as they’re an abysmal 2-4-1 in that situation. You’ll also want to steer clear of the winless San Jose Sharks as they’re the only team in the league this year that has failed to win a game when opening the scoring.
*Records as of November 7
| Team | After Not Scoring First | Trailing After 1st Period | Trailing After 2nd Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | 3-2-0 | 2-2-0 | 3-3-0 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 1-2-1 | 0-2-0 | 1-2-0 |
| Boston Bruins | 4-0-1 | 1-0-1 | 1-0-0 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 2-5-0 | 0-3-0 | 0-3-0 |
| Calgary Flames | 1-4-0 | 1-3-0 | 0-6-0 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 4-4-0 | 4-3-0 | 3-4-0 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 2-3-0 | 1-3-0 | 1-6-0 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 3-3-0 | 2-3-0 | 1-3-0 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-5-1 | 0-4-1 | 1-4-0 |
| Dallas Stars | 3-3-0 | 3-2-0 | 0-3-0 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 4-3-0 | 1-2-0 | 2-4-1 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 0-4-0 | 0-4-0 | 0-6-0 |
| Florida Panthers | 2-4-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-4-0 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 2-2-1 | 1-2-1 | 1-2-1 |
| Minnesota Wild | 2-4-1 | 1-4-2 | 2-5-1 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 2-3-1 | 1-2-1 | 2-4-2 |
| Nashville Predators | 2-4-0 | 0-3-0 | 0-4-0 |
| New Jersey Devils | 5-3-1 | 0-2-1 | 0-2-0 |
| New York Islanders | 0-2-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-2-0 |
| New York Rangers | 2-1-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-2-0 |
| Ottawa Senators | 0-3-0 | 0-3-0 | 0-5-0 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 0-5-1 | 0-3-0 | 0-3-1 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-2-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-4-0 |
| San Jose Sharks | 0-7-0 | 0-6-0 | 0-8-0 |
| Seattle Kraken | 2-2-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-4-0 |
| St. Louis Blues | 1-4-1 | 0-3-0 | 0-4-0 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-3-4 | 0-2-2 | 0-2-2 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 2-3-1 | 3-2-1 | 2-4-0 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 2-2-1 | 1-2-1 | 0-2-0 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 4-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Washington Capitals | 3-4-1 | 2-3-1 | 2-4-1 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 2-3-1 | 2-2-0 | 0-4-1 |
Key Takeaways
The Golden Knights (4-0-0) and Bruins (4-0-1) have the best records in the NHL when allowing the first goal of the game, so you don’t want to count them out of anything. Both teams seem to have a bit of a ‘comeback kid’ mentality. Vegas is 2-0-0 when trailing after the first period and 1-0-0 when trailing after the second (Bruins are 1-0-1 and 1-0-0 respectively).
Teams that essentially roll over and die when they give up the opening goal, include Calgary (1-4-0), Columbus (1-5-1), Edmonton (0-4-0), Philadelphia (0-5-1) and of course San Jose (0-7-0). That’s part of a troubling trend for the Oilers as they haven’t won a single game when giving up the first goal, or when trailing after the first or second periods. Avoid Edmonton at all costs.
