How to Bet on NHL Goalscorers: Anytime, First Goal, Last Goal, Multi-Scorer Markets and Settlement Rules

Updated 22 Oct 2026 · By the BetHubCA Editorial Team

Goalscorer markets are where hockey betting gets personal. You're not just picking a team — you're naming the guy who lights the lamp. Books love these bets because they're fun and the margins are fat. Fans love them because cheering for a goal feels better when there's a ticket attached. If you want a real how-to, not just vibes, this page walks through every common goalscorer market, how they settle, how to build a rough fair price, and when to leave the counter alone.

Ground rules: 19+ in most provinces, 18+ in Manitoba and Quebec. This site does not serve Ontario or Alberta residents. Cloudbet, linked here, holds a Curaçao licence and is not authorized by any Canadian province. Every rate and price below is an illustrative example, not a live line or a tip on a real skater. For the deeper math on one specific market, see our anytime goalscorer betting strategy page.

What "goalscorer betting" actually means

A goalscorer bet pays if a named player scores in a way that matches the market. The big four:

Some books also offer "scores or assists", "points", or period-specific scorers. Same idea, different settlement. Always read the market title before you click.

Anytime goalscorer, step by step

Anytime is the workhorse. Pick a forward (or a rare defenceman), and if his name goes on the scoresheet for a goal, you get paid — whether it's the first, the fifth, or an empty-netter late.

A simple fair-price sketch

Suppose a winger averages about 0.35 goals per game over a big sample. Treat goals as roughly Poisson and the chance he scores at least once in tonight's game is:

1 − e^−0.35 ≈ 29.5%, which is a fair decimal price of about 3.39.

If the board shows 3.40 on that 0.35 guy, you're basically looking at a fair market before the book even adds its cut. If he's 2.90, you're paying a premium for the name. Our odds calculator converts any decimal to an implied chance in one click.

Expected value on a C$10 ticket at 3.40

You need to be a few points above the fair number before the bet even breaks even after the margin. That's why "he's due" is not a strategy.

First goalscorer vs anytime

First goalscorer pays only if your guy opens the scoring. Roughly, his anytime chance gets scaled by the share of team goals he usually takes, and by the chance his team scores first. A top-line forward who bags 30% of his team's goals is a much better first-goal candidate than a depth guy with the same anytime price for different reasons.

• Anytime forgives a slow start. He can score late and still cash.
• First needs the early bounce, the early power play, or a soft opening against a backup.
• Last is chaos: empty-netters, goalie pulls, and soft late goals scramble who finishes the sheet.

If you're new, start with anytime. First and last are for when you already have a view on game script.

Multi-scorer (2+) markets

Two-or-more goals is a different animal. Using the same Poisson sketch:

These prices look juicy because they are long. They also lose almost every night. Size them like lottery tickets, not like moneylines.

Settlement rules that bite people

Books differ, so confirm your house rules. Common patterns worth knowing:

• Empty-net goals usually count for anytime and often for last goalscorer. That late EN can save or sink a ticket.
• Overtime goals count in most NHL player markets unless the board says regulation only.
• Shootout goals do not count as regulation/OT goals for scorer markets. A shootout winner is not a "goalscorer" in the usual sense.
• Own goals do not credit the opposing skater as a goalscorer.
• If a player is scratched, many books void the selection; some grade as a loss if he was never a game-time decision. Check before puck drop.
• Awarded goals (puck directed in off a skate under the rules) generally count when the scoresheet credits the player.

Our page on whether NHL bets include overtime is worth a skim if you mix team totals with player props.

Lineups, goalies and power play — the pre-puck checklist

1. Is he actually in? Morning skates lie. Wait for the confirmed lineup.
2. Which line and PP unit? Moving from PP1 to PP2 can cut expected goals sharply.
3. Opposing starter vs backup? A backup start bumps scoring rates league-wide; it doesn't automatically make every name a bet.
4. Home or road? Some shooters travel better than others over big samples; don't invent a split from five games.
5. Back-to-backs? Rest and travel matter more for total game script than for one star's price, but they change ice time.

Why you can't "demargin" a whole anytime board like a moneyline

On a moneyline, exactly one side wins. On an anytime board, several players can cash in the same game. If you add up implied chances on eight forwards, you can get a number well under or well over 100% and learn almost nothing. Price each name against your own model, not against the sum of the board.

Parlays of goalscorers

Stacking three anytime names at 3.00 each looks like a 27.00 ticket. If each truly has a 30% chance and the scores are independent (they aren't fully — same game script), the combined chance is about 2.7%, and the expected return per dollar is roughly −27%. Correlation makes it worse when you pick three teammates who all need the same power-play looks. Run the numbers in our parlay calculator before you romanticize the payout.

Period and team-total crossovers

If you think a game goes high, anytime scorers on both top lines get a lift. If you think it's a 2–1 grind, first-goalscorer and under totals often make more sense than a pile of anytime tickets. Pairing a scorer with an opposite team total is a classic correlated trap — the book already prices that relationship into the juice.

Defencemen and goalies as scorers

Blue-liners who walk PP1 can be priced attractively because casual money stays on wingers. Goalie goalscorer markets exist as novelty longshots; treat them as entertainment, not analysis. One-in-a-thousand outcomes don't need a spreadsheet.

A sample night plan (fake names only)

• Player A, top-line winger, λ sketch 0.38 → fair anytime ~3.20. Board 3.55 → small interest.
• Player B, PP2 centre, λ 0.22 → fair ~5.10. Board 4.20 → pass.
• Player C, first goalscorer at 9.00 while his anytime is 3.10 — only bet first if you have a real opener angle (soft start, early PP chance), not because 9.00 "looks big".

Stake tiny. Player props swing hard night to night.

Fan traps I see every week

• Hot shooting percentage. A guy converting 22% of his shots for two weeks is usually regressing, not "locked in".
• Favourite sweater bias. Your team's star is often bet down past fair.
• Ignoring ice time. Ten minutes a night with no PP is not a 3.50 anytime no matter the brand name.
• Chasing last game. Hat tricks don't clone themselves on demand.
• Parlaying five longshots. That's a raffle.

Power-play vs five-on-five scoring

A big chunk of NHL goals still come on the power play. If your guy is locked on PP1, his anytime price should move when the opponent takes a lot of penalties or when the home team has been drawing calls. Five-on-five finishers who never see the man advantage need a higher even-strength rate to justify the same board number. When you sketch λ, split it mentally: even-strength goals per 60 plus expected PP minutes times PP goals per 60. You do not need NHL EDGE on your phone — a quick look at whether he is PP1 or buried on PP2 already separates real tickets from sweater bets.

Short-handed goals are rare enough that they rarely change the fair price much, but they do settle anytime tickets. A penalty-kill specialist with a history of shorthanded markers is still usually priced correctly as a longshot.

Home ice, travel and the backup goalie bump

League-wide scoring ticks up a little at home and a little more against backups. That does not mean every home favourite's winger is suddenly a 2.80 anytime. It means you should ask whether the board already baked in the backup confirmation. Markets move fast once the starter is ruled out; if you are still seeing yesterday's number after the tweet, you might have a small edge. If the number has already shortened, you are late.

Travel-heavy weeks and three-games-in-four stretches cut ice time for some stars and inflate it for depth forwards. Depth anytime prices that look too short on a tired roster are often traps; star prices that look too long when the coach has said he will "manage minutes" can be the opposite trap.

Building a tiny model without being a nerd about it

1. Start from season goals per game, not last-five highlights.
2. Adjust ±10–20% for opponent strength and starter vs backup — small moves, not double.
3. Cut hard if he loses PP1 or drops off the top line.
4. Convert to a probability with 1 − e^−λ, then demand the board be longer than fair by enough to cover the juice.
5. If you cannot explain the edge in one sentence, pass.

That process is enough for recreational betting. Full shot-share models are great for people who treat this like a job; they are overkill for a C$5 ticket on a Wednesday night.

Bankroll sizing for a market you mostly lose

Anytime scorers lose more often than they win even when you are right about the fair price. At a true 30% chance you still cash only three nights in ten. Flat stakes of 0.5% to 1% of your monthly fun bankroll keep the cold streaks survivable. Doubling after a miss is how a fun prop turns into a bad week. Cap the number of scorer tickets per slate — three thoughtful singles beat eight overlapping parlays.

Live goalscorer betting

In-play boards reprice after every shift and every goal. The first goalscorer market dies once the opener is scored; anytime prices shorten for players still without a goal if the game script stays open, and drift if the game turns into a 1–0 nest. Live can be useful when a star sits a shift or two for a minor equipment issue and the price has not moved yet — and dangerous when you are just angry you missed the pre-game number. Lag on the stream vs the book is real; do not bet a "he's alone in front" moment you saw two seconds ago.

Where this sits next to other hockey pages

Moneyline, puck line and totals are covered in our NHL moneyline, puck line and over/under guides. Season-long names live on NHL futures. Trophy races like the Rocket Richard are a different market family — see Rocket Richard odds if that's your angle.

Is this legal where I live?

Gambling rules are provincial. Quebec's authorized sportsbook is Mise-o-jeu (Loto-Québec). BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan use PlayNow. This site does not serve Ontario or Alberta. Offshore books such as Cloudbet are not authorized by any Canadian province and are not authorized in Quebec. Read is online betting legal in Canada for the fuller picture. Recreational wins are generally not taxed — details on our tax page.

Keep it a hobby

Goalscorer tickets should make the game more fun, not more stressful. Cap what you're willing to lose for the month and stop when you hit it. If betting stops feeling like entertainment, call Jeu : aide et référence at 1-800-461-0140 (Montreal 514-527-0140), Gambling Support BC at 1-888-795-6111, Manitoba at 1-800-463-1554, Saskatchewan at 1-800-306-6789, or 211 anywhere in Canada. More resources on our responsible gambling page.

Recording your bets so you actually learn

Write down the player, market, price, your fair number, and the result. After fifty tickets you will see whether you are beating the juice or just sponsoring the book. Most people remember the cashes and forget the quiet losers. A simple notes app beats memory every time. If after two months your record is underwater and you cannot point to a clear pricing mistake you have fixed, shrink the stakes or switch back to team moneylines until the process feels honest again.

Bottom line

How to bet on NHL goalscorers comes down to matching the market to your opinion: anytime for "he gets one tonight", first for game-script openers, 2+ for rare heaters, and always settlement rules before puck drop. Build a fair price from ice time and finishing rates, demand a cushion over the board, and keep the stakes small. If the number isn't clearly better than fair, enjoy the goal without a ticket.