Hockey Handicap Predictions
Every game we rate on the handicap market, with the probability and the best price. The puck line is almost always 1.5 goals. The favourite at -1.5 must win by two or more; the underdog at +1.5 wins the bet by winning or losing by one. Because so many games are decided by one goal, the favourite on the puck line is usually priced above evens.
- 3 games rated on this market, starting today and rolling forward.
- Posted by 06:00 WAT and revised when confirmed team news lands.
- One tip per game. It names its own market rather than leaving you to work out which one it is on.
- Settled publicly. Losing calls stay on the page.
Hockey Handicap Predictions
3 games rated on this market, starting today and rolling forward, all times West Africa Time
Percentages are our win probability for home, draw and away, and always total 100. Hockey fixtures can end level, so all three are priced. The tip is our one call on each fixture, and it names its own market. 1 is the home side, X the draw, 2 the away side, matching the percentages. A tip with no label is a straight win. Handicap 1 (-1.5) is the home side after that puck line is applied, and Over / under O 7.5 is the match passing that many goals. Green means the call won, red means it lost, amber means it has not settled yet. Losing calls stay on the page, which is what the accuracy record is built from. The last column shows the start time until a fixture begins, then the live score, then the final score.
How Hockey Handicap Settles
What counts, and what does not
- The line. The puck line is almost always 1.5 goals. The favourite at -1.5 must win by two or more; the underdog at +1.5 wins the bet by winning or losing by one. Because so many games are decided by one goal, the favourite on the puck line is usually priced above evens.
- Overtime. On the two way winner, the puck line and the total, overtime and the shootout count at most bookmakers, with a shootout win settling as a one goal margin. The 3-way result is the exception: it settles on 60 minutes and a draw is possible. Check the rules of the bookmaker you use.
- Pushes refund. Where a whole number line lands exactly, the stake is returned.
Settlement rules vary slightly between bookmakers. Where practice differs we say "most bookmakers"; check the rules of the one you use before placing anything.
About Our Hockey Handicap Predictions
What the market is, how we rate it, where it tends to land and how to use the page
Ice hockey puck line predictions rate the margin rather than the winner. Favourites in hockey are less reliable than in basketball because goals are rare and goaltending swings single games. A strong side loses to a hot goalie often enough that the straight win price on even a clear favourite deserves checking against our probability. We rate the puck line on every game we cover and list the ones where our expected margin differs from the line by enough to matter, from the card on the ice hockey predictions hub.
How the Line Works
The puck line is almost always 1.5 goals. The favourite at -1.5 must win by two or more; the underdog at +1.5 wins the bet by winning or losing by one. Because so many games are decided by one goal, the favourite on the puck line is usually priced above evens.
How We Rate It
The puck line favourite needs a two goal margin, and in the NHL a large share of games are decided by one. The rating weighs the favourite's record of winning by two or more, which is a different thing from its record of winning. Empty net goals help the puck line favourite as much as they hurt the under. The method is on how we make predictions.
What Moves the Puck line
The puck line at 1.5 is a bet on a two goal margin, and empty net goals make that margin more common than it looks from the run of play. A favourite leading by one with two minutes left is more likely to win by two than to be pegged back, which the rating accounts for. The competitions that produce most of the rows here are NHL, KHL, SHL, Liiga.
The Other Two Markets
The straight win page rates the winner alone, and is the better market when the puck line is small or the favourite is not clear. The over / under page rates the combined goals and is the natural pairing when you have a view on how the game is played rather than who wins it.
How to Use This Page
The chips above the table switch market. The country and competition selects narrow the table to one competition without leaving the page. The day pills move to tomorrow or the week ahead, and the date picker goes to any day. Every row links to the full fixture page, where the analysis explains the number. When a pick settles it stays on the site with its result, and the market's strike rate on the accuracy page is calculated from that archive, losses included. The hockey predictions hub carries the same fixtures across every market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What people ask about hockey handicap predictions.