How To Bet Hockey Totals

Hockey Totals Betting

Hockey totals betting is a wide-ranging category. Totals can look at a team or player’s performance over a full season. It can be focused on an entire game or a specific period.

You will sometimes see totals referred to as ‘over/under’. This is how bettors wager on a total market – a line will be set, which bettors then wager on whether there will be over or under that number.

💡Season-Long Totals
📊Game Totals
📈Player Prop Totals
✅Tips and Strategies

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Season-Long Totals

Every NHL team has a points total set several weeks before the season. For example, the Tampa Bay Lightning might have a preseason total of 98.5 points. Bettors would then evaluate their offseason moves and previous performance to decide whether to bet on the Lightning to accumulate over or under this number of points.

An under bet would payout if they had 98 or fewer points.
An over bettor would need the Lightning to get at least 99 points.

Some sportsbooks will keep these totals available throughout the seasons, with lines adjusting depending on team performance, injuries, and trades.

Game Totals

The most common form of game total is to bet on the number of goals in a game. Most NHL games have a pre-game total of 5.5 or 6.5 goals. Bettors then wager on over or under this line.

If the Calgary Flames are playing the New York Rangers, for instance, you may choose to bet on over 5.5 total goals. The bet would win if the teams combined for six or more goals, regardless of the distribution.

Game totals go far beyond the standard lines, however. You can also bet on the total number of goals in the first period, how many goals each team will score, and alternate lines.

Alternate lines can be useful when the standard line doesn’t appeal to you. Take a higher game total and bet the over to get longer odds. You may also look to find shorter odds on alternate lines when constructing a same-game parlay or teaser.

For example, you might want to back the Toronto Maple Leafs to score over 1.5 goals at -160 because you are combining that with other selections, meaning you are happy to take a shorter price.

Player Prop Totals

Player prop totals are a very popular form of hockey betting. This usually refers to single-game wagers like over/unders on points, assists, shots on target, and power play points.

Season-long wagers can also be included, such as player points or goals totals, which are often available for the league’s stars.

You will find player prop totals at all the best NHL sportsbooks throughout the season. There are some great resources available when researching your player prop wagers to help you identify trends and look up player statistics.

Hockey Totals Betting Strategy

Like any betting market, it’s important you devise a reliable betting strategy when trying to find value hockey totals to wager on.

Divisional Impact on Futures

The strength of the division is a key factor when evaluating futures over/unders. Teams play more games against their divisional opponent and play every team in their Conference three times during the regular season.

For instance, it might not make sense to take four Pacific Division teams to hit their over. Instead, you might look to take the over with Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights but take Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings to go under.

The math doesn’t work to have all of a Conference hitting their over, so use this to your advantage. If you think a few teams in a Conference have points totals which are far too low, this means some are likely given a line far too high.

Spotting Patterns

Patterns are the key to hockey totals betting. Has a team consistently hit its season-long points over? Does a team consistently play low-scoring games? Has a player struggled to score goals on the road?

These are the kinds of questions you need to answer when researching your wagers.

Maybe the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens have played a string of high-scoring games. Perhaps the Philadelphia Flyers have hit the over in 70% of their games so far this season. Absorbing this information is vital when trying to make an informed wager on totals markets.

Scan through a team’s recent results, their head-to-head matchups, and look at their betting statistics for the season. Previous seasons are often informative when trying to make futures wagers.

Key Matchups

Previous meetings can help to predict future outcomes. If the Boston Bruins have consistently struggled to score against the Buffalo Sabres, it might be a good opportunity to take the under on Boston’s total goals.

Look into specific player head-to-head duels, too. Some players raise their game against certain opponents. This opens up an opportunity to back the over on their player prop totals.

Pay attention to the coaches. How have the head coaches fared when they have faced off previously? Does one of them have the upper hand? What are the average goal tallies?

Even if their previous games were in charge of different teams, the importance of coaching is often underrated, and can be a way to discover some totals betting value.

Scour the Schedule

Schedules are naturally very important for futures wagers. The schedule is a factor to consider with game and player totals, too.

If a team is in the midst of a lengthy road trip, it’s bound to impact their performance. Perhaps a team’s attack has been particularly prolific when they’ve got a rest advantage.

Keep an Eye on Line Movement

Look out for total lines moving in the lead-up to a game (or during the offseason for futures).

This indicates where the money has been going or may suggest the sportsbooks are expecting significant news.

Fading the public is something to consider. We wouldn’t recommend doing it all the time, but lines moving can unlock some opportunities.

Know Your Stuff

It might seem reductive, but it’s crucial you are as informed as possible when looking to bet on hockey totals. This means following the latest news around the league, whether that’s trades, injuries, or coaching changes.

Get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each team. Find out which goalies are performing best, and which teams are leaking the most expected goals per game.

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