Do NHL Bets Include Overtime? Moneyline, Puck Line, Totals, Props and the Shootout Explained Market by Market

Updated October 2026 · By the BetHubCA team

Short answer: most NHL bets do include overtime, and most include the shootout too, but not all of them, and the exceptions are exactly where people lose money they thought they'd won. I've watched a buddy cash his Leafs over 6.5 ticket on a shootout goal and another lose a Connor McDavid anytime goal bet even though McDavid "scored" in the skills competition at the end. Same game, different rules. Let's go market by market so you know what you're actually betting on before the puck drops.

Quick ground rules: the legal gambling age is 19 in most provinces and 18 in Manitoba and Quebec. Provincial sites (PlayNow, Loto-Québec's Mise-o-jeu, ALC's Proline) are the regulated options where you live. Cloudbet, which we link to, holds a Curaçao licence and is not authorized by any Canadian province; see our legality page. This site doesn't serve Ontario or Alberta residents. Every price on this page is a made-up example, not a tip.

First, how NHL overtime actually works now

You can't understand the betting rules without the hockey rules, so here's the thirty-second version.

• Regular season: if the game is tied after 60 minutes, teams play a single five-minute overtime at three-on-three. First goal wins. If nobody scores, it goes to a shootout: three shooters per side, then sudden-death rounds until one team wins.
• Playoffs: no shootout and no three-on-three. Tied games go to full 20-minute periods at five-on-five, sudden death, as many as it takes. That's how you get those triple-overtime games that end at 1:30 a.m. Eastern.
• Official score: when a game is decided by shootout, the NHL credits the winning team with one extra goal on the final score. A 2-2 game won in the shootout goes in the books as 3-2. No individual player gets a goal on his stat line for that.

Overtime is common. In recent regular seasons, roughly a fifth to a quarter of games have needed extra time, so on a busy night with a dozen games you should expect two or three of them to go past 60 minutes. That isn't an edge case. It's baked into the prices, and you need to know which side of it your ticket sits on.

The cheat sheet: what includes OT and what doesn't

Every sportsbook writes its own rules, so treat this as the typical setup and always confirm with your book's hockey rules page. But here's how the big markets usually settle:

Keep that table handy. Now let's walk through why each one works the way it does, because once you get the logic you won't need to memorize anything.

Moneyline: the two-way line covers everything

The standard NHL moneyline is a two-way bet. You pick a team, and that team has to win the game, however it gets done: in regulation, in three-on-three overtime, or in the shootout. In the playoffs it's whoever wins in however many overtimes it takes. There's no draw option because there's no draw in an NHL game.

This is why the moneyline is the most beginner-friendly hockey bet. You don't need to think about extra time at all. If your team wins, you get paid.

The one thing to understand is that overtime and the shootout are close to coin flips between most teams. Three-on-three rewards speed and skill a bit, and some teams have genuinely good shootout shooters or goalies, but the gap between a strong team and a weak team shrinks a lot once the game reaches OT. That's partly why heavy NHL favourites are rarely priced as short as heavy favourites in other sports. The bookmaker knows that a fifth or more of games become something close to a lottery at the end.

The 3-way line: where "my team won" doesn't mean "I won"

Many books also offer a three-way market, sometimes called the 60-minute line, the regulation line or "1X2". Here only the first 60 minutes count. You can bet the home team, the away team, or the tie. If it's 2-2 at the end of the third period, the tie wins, full stop. It doesn't matter who wins in overtime or the shootout.

Here's what that looks like with example prices for a Canucks home game:

The three-way price on the Canucks is higher because you're giving up all the games they would have won in OT or the shootout. If you think the Canucks win this one comfortably, the 2.25 is attractive. If you think it's a coin-flip grinder, the moneyline is the safer read.

The tie itself is an interesting bet. At 4.20, the implied chance is about 24%, which is right around how often NHL games go to overtime in general. Whether that's good value depends entirely on the matchup: two tight-checking teams with good goalies tie after 60 more often than two run-and-gun teams with shaky netminding.

The number one mistake I see is someone grabbing the three-way price because it "looks better" without realizing a tie loses. Read the market name. If it says 60 minutes, regulation, or 3-way, overtime is not your friend.

Puck line: why -1.5 dies the second OT starts

The puck line is hockey's spread, almost always set at 1.5 goals. The favourite at -1.5 needs to win by two or more. The underdog at +1.5 covers if it wins outright or loses by exactly one.

Puck lines include overtime and the shootout. Now think about what that means. Regular-season overtime is sudden death: the game ends on the first goal, so the winning margin in OT is always exactly one. A shootout win counts as one goal too. So the moment a game is tied after 60 minutes, the -1.5 side is mathematically dead, and the +1.5 side is a guaranteed winner, no matter what happens next.

That's a real thing to factor in:

• If you're on the favourite -1.5, you're not just betting they're better. You're betting they win in regulation by two or more, which is a much narrower outcome. Empty-net goals late in the third period are what make a lot of -1.5 tickets cash.
• If you're on the underdog +1.5, every overtime game is a free win for you, which is why +1.5 prices are so short (often 1.30 to 1.50 for a modest underdog).
• In the playoffs, the same logic holds: sudden-death OT means a one-goal margin, so -1.5 can't cover once regulation ends tied.

Some books also offer alternate puck lines like -2.5 or +2.5, and occasionally a regulation-only puck line. Check which version you're clicking.

Totals: yes, OT counts, and the shootout usually adds one goal

This is the one that sparks the most arguments in group chats. For standard NHL game totals, overtime goals count. If it's 3-3 after 60 and someone scores in OT, the game finishes 4-3 and the total is 7.

The shootout is where it gets weirder. Most books settle the total on the official final score, and the official score credits the shootout winner with one goal. So a 3-3 game that's decided in the shootout settles as 4-3, total 7. Only one goal is added, no matter how many players scored in the shootout itself. If you had over 6.5, you win. If you had under 6.5, you lose, even though "only" six real goals were scored.

A handful of books handle this differently, and some offer a regulation-only total as a separate market. That's why the cheat sheet says "usually." Before you bet a total, take thirty seconds to open the book's hockey rules and search for "shootout." It's the most valuable thirty seconds in NHL betting.

A practical tip: when a total is set at 5.5 or 6.5, a game going to OT tied 2-2 or 3-3 will very often push it over by one goal. If you like an under, you're quietly hoping someone wins in regulation. If you like an over in a game between two evenly matched teams, overtime is a hidden bonus.

Team totals: read the fine print twice

Team totals (for example, Oilers over 3.5 goals) usually include overtime. The shootout, when it's included, adds the extra goal only to the team that won it. So if the Oilers win a 3-3 game in the shootout, their team total settles at 4. If they lose it, they stay at 3.

Some books exclude the shootout from team totals or offer regulation-only versions. This market varies more than any other, so if you bet team totals often, keep a note of how your book does it.

Player props: OT goals count, shootout goals don't

Player props are settled on the official NHL stats. Goals, assists, points, shots on goal, hits, blocks and goalie saves in overtime all count, because they're real game stats. Anything in the shootout does not count, because the NHL doesn't credit shootout goals or saves to individual stat lines.

Examples:

• You bet a winger to score anytime. He scores the OT winner at 2:14 of overtime. You win.
• You bet the same winger to score anytime. He scores in the shootout. You lose. That goal doesn't exist for prop purposes.
• You bet a goalie over 28.5 saves. He makes 27 in regulation and 2 in overtime. You win, 29 saves. If he'd stopped five shootout attempts instead, those wouldn't count.
• You bet a defenceman over 2.5 shots on goal. He gets two in regulation and one in OT. You win. Three-on-three hockey is wide open, and puck-moving defencemen often pick up a cheap shot or two in OT.

First goalscorer markets are worth a special mention. If the game is 0-0 after regulation and the first goal comes in overtime, the OT scorer is the first goalscorer. If it's 0-0 through overtime and decided in a shootout, most books treat the first goalscorer bet as "no goalscorer," which usually means your player bet loses unless the book offers a no-scorer option or voids it. Check the rules.

Period bets: overtime is its own thing

Period markets cover only that period. The third period ends at 60:00. Overtime is not "part of the third," so a third-period total, third-period winner or third-period puck line ignores anything after regulation.

Some books do offer overtime-specific markets: who scores in OT, will there be a goal in OT, will the game end in a shootout. These are niche and usually carry a fat margin, so treat them as fun bets, not core ones.

Will the game go to overtime? The yes/no market

A lot of books offer a simple "will there be overtime" bet. "Yes" is usually priced somewhere around 3.75 to 4.50 depending on the matchup, which implies roughly a 22% to 27% chance. "No" is very short.

When might "yes" be worth a look? When two teams are genuinely even, both play low-event hockey, both have strong goalies, and the total is set at 5.5. Low-scoring games between even teams finish tied more often. When should you avoid it? In mismatches, and in games with a total of 6.5 or higher where one bad shift can blow things open.

Don't forget the bookmaker's margin. If yes is 4.00 and no is 1.22, the implied probabilities add up to about 107%. You need a real read on the matchup to beat that.

Playoff overtime: same rules, bigger swings

In the playoffs, everything above holds, minus the shootout. Moneyline includes all overtime periods. Puck lines and totals include all overtime goals. Player props include all overtime stats. Three-way regulation markets still settle at 60 minutes.

What changes is the hockey. Playoff overtime is five-on-five, refs swallow their whistles a bit more, and games can go long. That makes totals more volatile: a 2-2 game might end on the first shift of OT or run past midnight, but either way it'll end with exactly one more goal. Shot and save props can explode in multi-overtime games, which is why playoff goalie saves overs can be fun when you expect a tight series. Just remember that the extra period is only possible if the game is tied, and you can't count on that.

Parlays and same-game parlays with overtime in the mix

Each leg settles on its own rules. If you combine a moneyline (includes OT) with a third-period total (excludes OT) and a player prop (includes OT, excludes shootout), each one is graded separately. That's fine, but it makes it easy to build a parlay where an overtime finish helps one leg and hurts another.

A classic correlated mistake: favourite -1.5 plus game over 6.5. You're hoping for a lopsided regulation win with lots of goals. Fine. But if the game goes to OT, the -1.5 leg is dead immediately, so the whole parlay is dead even if the total comes in. Know what you're building.

If you want a deeper look at how parlay maths stacks the house edge, our parlay strategy guide walks through it in C$.

How to check your book's rules in two minutes

1. Open the sportsbook's help or rules section and find "Ice Hockey" or "NHL."
2. Search the page (Ctrl+F) for "overtime," "shootout" and "regulation."
3. Look for three things: whether totals include the shootout goal, whether team totals do, and whether "60 minutes" markets are clearly labelled.
4. Check the player props section for how shootouts and first goalscorer are handled.
5. Screenshot it. Rules pages change, and if a settlement ever looks wrong you'll want proof of what the rule said when you bet.

If a book's rules are vague or contradict themselves, that's a reason to keep your stake small there. Clear rules are a sign the operator expects to be held to them.

Common mistakes Canadian bettors make with OT

• Taking the 3-way price on a favourite because the number is bigger, then losing on a 60-minute tie the team wins in OT.
• Betting -1.5 on a good team in a tight divisional game. Divisional rivals play each other often and know each other well. A lot of those games go to OT, and -1.5 can't survive that.
• Counting a shootout goal as a player goal. It isn't. Never has been.
• Forgetting the shootout goal on totals. Under bettors get burned by this every week.
• Chasing in-play during OT. Three-on-three is chaotic, prices swing on every rush, and it's easy to fire off a few tilted bets in five minutes. Set your limit before the game, not during overtime.

Paying with crypto? The rules don't change

If you use a crypto sportsbook, overtime and shootout settlement follow that book's hockey rules, exactly like any other site. The only difference is how your stake and winnings are denominated. If you bet in BTC or ETH, your C$ result also moves with the coin's price between deposit and withdrawal. A stablecoin like USDC keeps that out of the picture. Either way, think in Canadian dollars when you size bets, and remember an offshore book isn't covered by a provincial regulator if a dispute comes up.

Keep it a hobby

Overtime is exciting. That's the point of it. It's also the part of the game where people make impulsive bets. If betting stops being fun, take a break. Quebec's Jeu: aide et référence line is 1 800 461-0140, and helplines for other provinces are in the box on this page. They're free and confidential.

My take

So, do NHL bets include overtime? The moneyline, puck line, totals and player props all do. The shootout counts on the moneyline and puck line and usually adds one goal to totals, but never counts for player stats. Three-way regulation lines and period bets ignore overtime entirely. Once you know that, the practical lessons follow: be careful with -1.5 favourites in close matchups, respect the hidden extra goal on totals, and never assume a shootout goal will cash a scorer bet. Read your book's rules once, save a screenshot, and you'll never be the guy in the group chat arguing with customer service at midnight.