Bet NHL betting lines with Xbet for the most profitable market place that nobody bothers to explore. Truth be told, hockey isn’t the most popular sport around, but it has a loyal following of elite bettors who know how to back the hot teams carving up the ice.

NHL Betting Overview

NHL betting is the least popular of the four major sports in the United States. The game played on ice and wearing skates just doesn’t grab America’s imagination the way that football, basketball and baseball do. That’s a shame since betting the NHL can lead to major profits. Check out our Top 5 NHL Betting Tips below and study our refresher on NHL wagers.

Top 5 NHL Betting Tips

1. Be flexible

Don’t just decide to bet on the moneyline if you like a game. The moneyline is a great wager when it comes to hockey and it should be your bread and butter, but you aren’t going to make enough profit if all you do is wager on the moneyline because there is a lot of parity in the NHL. Pittsburgh, as an example, went 51 and 24 last season on the moneyline. Not bad and you should make a profit if all you did was wager on Pittsburgh, but how much of a profit? Not as much as you could betting on the puck line.

2. A good moneyline team is not always a good puck line team

Pittsburgh is the classic example of a team that did very well last season on the moneyline, but failed miserably when it came to spread betting. Pittsburgh’s 51 and 24 record didn’t translate to the spread betting category. Pittsburgh was only 35 and 47 against the spread.

3. Live Bet your games

Like in baseball, basketball and football, always consider making a live bet during a hockey game. Hedging many of your hockey wagers only makes sense and that requires you to make live bets while games are happening. Live betting also allows you to juice your winning wagers.

4. Goalies and defense are worth more than top offenses

A goalie can make a top offensive team look downright ordinary while a great defensive team can add a lot of value to your wagers. Always think in terms of terrific defense and great goalie play. This doesn’t mean that you should always bet under the total. What it means is that a team with great defense and a great goalie will keep its team in a game much longer than a team without.

5. Line changes are meaningful

Teams that have very deep lines and change them at will often times are capable of producing top efforts while teams that have to rely on their starting line to score or to keep offenses at bay can be worn down in the third period. This is especially true the longer the season goes. Deep teams end up winning both on the moneyline and against the spread while non-deep teams tail off.

How to Bet on NHL Hockey

NHL Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting simply means to put money on the team that you think will win the game straight up. For example, if the odds on Los Angeles are -225 on the moneyline than for every $225 that you wager, the potential profit will be $100. If the moneyline odds on Pittsburgh in our example are at +135, then for every $100 you wager on Pittsburgh, your potential profit is $135.

NHL Goals Scored Totals

Betting on NHL Goals Scored Totals simply means to wager over or under a specific total goals scored number. Let’s say that the total on Los Angeles versus Washington is 5.5 goals. If you bet over the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 6 or more goals. If you bet under the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 5 goals or less.

NHL Puck Line Betting

NHL Puck Line betting is similar to betting against the spread in football. The puck line is always -1.5 at certain odds or +1.5 at certain odds. An example is below:

• Los Angeles -1.5 +125
• Washington +1.5 -150

What the odds above say is that if you lay 1.5 pucks on Los Angeles you get +125. If you take the +1.5 pucks on Washington you have to bet -150. If Los Angeles wins 4 to 2, and you took Los Angeles at -1.5 on the puck line, you won your bet. If you bet on Washington at +1.5 and Los Angeles wins 3 to 2, you won your bet on Washington.

Parlay Betting

Parlay betting is simply putting together two or more bets into a single wager so that the outcome of all bets is related to each other. An example is below:

• Los Angeles -150
• Washington +135
• Over Total Los Angeles versus Washington 5.5 pucks

The above is a 3-Team (Wager) NHL Parlay Bet. You have to win all three bets to win the parlay. This is why parlay bets pay out more than individual bets.

Grand Salami

The Grand Salami is unique to hockey betting. With the Grand Salami, NHL hockey betting handicappers can wager on the total combined score of every single hockey game going on that day. The total is usually around 50 to 60 goals. If you bet over the total and it goes over the Grand Salami total offered, you win your wager. An under bet requires the total of all goals scored to go under the Grand Salami total.