Underdogs Cashing Early And Often In NHL This Year

If you like betting on underdogs, you’ve loved the start of this National Hockey League season.

According to Canadian sports betting site Sports Interaction, puck line underdogs (similar to a point spread in football or basketball, with the underdog getting +1.5 goals) have covered the spread approximately two-thirds of the time through the opening week of the season.

Golden Knights A Great NHL Underdog Betting Pick

Some of the top teams to back in that department include the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and the lowly New Jersey Devils, both of whom have covered the puck line in each of their first three games. (Vegas was actually a favourite in its third game of the year, but easily covered as -1.5 chalk by routing Arizona 5-2.)

The surprising Avalanche have also been especially profitable, winning three of their first four games outright at plus money each time.

“It’s a small sample, sure, but that’s what happens when you have teams like Vegas, New Jersey and Colorado off to hot starts,” a Sports Interaction analyst told SportsbookBonus.ca. “Those three clubs have just one loss between them, so make sure you keep an eye out for squads that may be much better bets than originally thought.”

Goal Scoring Also Up Early


Whether it’s rusty goaltenders, a lack of defensive intensity or a huge increase in the number of power plays, there have been a pile of goals scored in the NHL to start the year.

Through 47 games, the Over was 28-19, and it’s become more and more rare to see an Over/Under of 5 in a game. Teams also aren’t waiting around to generate some offence, with first period Over 1.5 bets cashing at nearly a 70 per cent slip as well.

We’ve seen high-scoring starts to NHL seasons before, only to see the games settle down once teams got a few weeks into the year and the referees started swallowing their whistle again. Players might also start conserving their energy a bit when they get into tough scheduling spots like back-to-backs and four games in six nights.

Our advice is to bet all the Overs you can for now, but also keep an eye out for signs that the games are tightening up again. Sooner or later, the Under should once again be a profitable wager in the NHL, especially after oddsmakers have heightened their totals in reaction to all the early goals.