SEA5
WSH3
VAN2
NYR6
CAR4
PHI1
FLA
BUF
OTT
NJD
VGK
MIN
DET
CBJ
MTL
TBL
STL
NYI
PIT
CHI
WPG
COL
DAL
NSH
TOR
UTA
CGY
ANA
EDM
LAK
BOS
SJS
How to use this glossary
Type in the box to filter the list. It searches both the terms and the definitions, so typing "overtime" finds every entry that mentions it, not only the overtime entry itself. Each term has its own anchor, which means you can link straight to it.
A few entries are hockey stats rather than betting words: Corsi, Fenwick, PDO, expected goals, GSAx. They show up in previews and betting chats, and they are useful for one thing above all: telling whether a team's record is likely to hold. We have kept the definitions short and left the formulas out.
Terms from A to D
- Action
- Any money you have riding on a game. "I have action on the Bruins" means a bet is live. Books also use it for the total amount bet on an event.
- Alternate puck line
- A puck line at a number other than 1.5, such as -2.5 or +2.5. Moving the line changes the price a lot, because each extra goal of margin is much rarer than the last.
- American odds
- The US price format. A minus number, like -150, is what you stake to win $100. A plus number, like +130, is what a $100 stake wins. Prices never sit between -100 and +100.
- Back-to-back
- Two games on consecutive nights. In 2025-26, teams on the second night won 45.8% of the time league-wide, and they often start their backup goalie.
- Backup goalie
- The second goalie on the roster. Backups usually start one game of a back-to-back and a few others for rest. A confirmed backup start can move a moneyline by a noticeable amount.
- Bankroll
- The money you set aside for betting, separate from bills and savings. Bet sizes are best set as a small fixed share of it, called a unit.
- Break-even rate
- The win rate a price needs just to stay level. It equals the implied probability: 52.4% at -110, 60.0% at -150, 40.0% at +150.
- Chalk
- The favorite, or a bettor who mostly backs favorites. A night where most favorites win is called a chalky night.
- Closing line
- The last price posted before puck drop. It reflects the most information, including confirmed goalies and late lineup news.
- Closing line value
- How your price compares with the closing line. Taking +130 on a team that closes at +115 is positive closing line value, often shortened to CLV. Over many bets it is a good sign of skill.
- Corsi
- All shot attempts for and against at even strength: shots on goal, misses and blocked shots. Corsi percentage is a team's share of those attempts, a rough measure of who has the puck.
- Cover
- To win a bet against a handicap. A -1.5 favorite covers by winning by two or more; a +1.5 underdog covers with a win or a one-goal loss.
- Decimal odds
- The price as a multiplier of your stake, including the stake. 2.50 returns $250 on $100. Convert with our odds converter.
Terms from E to H
- Empty netter
- A goal scored after the other team pulled its goalie. NHL games averaged 0.387 empty-net goals in 2025-26, and 28% of two-goal margins only existed because of one.
- Expected goals
- A model of how many goals a team should have scored from the quality and location of its shots, shortened to xG. It filters out some of the luck in actual goals.
- Fade
- To bet against a team, a player or a popular opinion. Fading the public means taking the side most casual money is not on.
- Favorite
- The team the price expects to win, shown with minus odds on the moneyline and -1.5 on the puck line.
- Fenwick
- Like Corsi, but without blocked shots. Some analysts prefer it because shot blocking is partly a defensive skill rather than a sign of who controls play.
- First period line
- A bet on the first 20 minutes only, as a moneyline, puck line or total. In 2025-26 the first period averaged 1.756 goals, fewer than the second or third, and 17.7% of first periods ended 0-0.
- Fractional odds
- The UK format, showing profit over stake. 3/2 wins $3 for every $2 staked. Rare at US books, but common in older references.
- Futures
- Bets on outcomes decided later in the season, such as the Stanley Cup winner, division winners or season point totals. See our NHL futures guide.
- GAA
- Goals against average: goals allowed per 60 minutes by a goalie. It depends heavily on the defense in front of him, so save percentage is usually the better read.
- Goalie pull
- Taking the goalie off for an extra skater, usually when trailing late. Coaches pull earlier than they used to, which adds goals at both ends in the last minutes.
- Grand salami
- A total on the combined goals of every NHL game on a given day. The line moves with the size of the slate.
- GSAx
- Goals saved above expected: how many goals a goalie stopped compared with what an average goalie would allow on the same shots, by expected goals.
- Hedge
- A second bet against your first one to lock in some profit or cut a loss, common with futures and parlays near the end.
- High-danger chance
- A shot from the area right in front of the net, roughly the slot and crease. These convert far more often than point shots. The shot lab maps them by team.
- Hold
- The share of money a sportsbook expects to keep on a market. On a -110/-110 line it is about 4.5%. Also called the margin.
- Home ice
- The edge for playing at home, including the last line change. Home teams won 52.2% of games in 2025-26.
Terms from I to P
- Implied probability
- The chance of winning a price represents. -150 implies 60%, +150 implies 40%. Both sides of a line add up to more than 100% because of the vig.
- Juice
- Another word for vig, the sportsbook's cut built into the price. "Paying the juice" means taking -110 or worse to bet a side.
- Line movement
- A change in price after the line opens. In hockey the biggest moves usually follow goalie confirmations, injuries and heavy betting on one side.
- Live betting
- Betting while the game is on, with prices that update after goals, penalties and time running down. Our live hockey betting guide covers how it works.
- Middle
- Holding bets on both sides at different numbers so one result wins both, for example over 5.5 at one price and under 6.5 at another, which both cash on exactly six goals.
- Moneyline
- A bet on who wins, overtime and shootout included at most US books. The basic hockey bet. See the NHL moneyline guide.
- No-vig price
- The fair price after the sportsbook margin is removed from both sides. It is the market's best estimate of the true probability.
- Over/under
- A bet on whether the combined goals finish above or below a number, usually 5.5 or 6.5. NHL games averaged 6.25 goals in 2025-26, and 57.3% had six or more. Also called the total.
- Overtime
- The five-minute, three-on-three period played after a regular-season tie. 15.8% of games in 2025-26 were decided in overtime.
- Parlay
- One bet made of several legs that must all win. The payout multiplies, and so does the sportsbook margin. Try the parlay calculator.
- PDO
- Shooting percentage plus save percentage at even strength, scaled so the league average is about 100. A team far above 100 is often getting lucky and tends to drift back.
- Penalty kill
- The share of opponent power plays a team survives without allowing a goal. The league penalty kill averaged 78.9% in 2025-26.
- Period betting
- Markets on a single period, such as first period winner or second period total. Our period betting guide explains them.
- Power play
- The man advantage after a penalty, and the share of those chances a team scores on. The league power play converted 21.1% in 2025-26.
- Prop
- A bet on something other than the final result, often a player stat like shots on goal, points or saves. See NHL player props.
- Puck line
- Hockey's spread, almost always 1.5 goals. In 2025-26, 56.8% of games ended with a margin of two or more. Full detail in our puck line guide.
- Push
- A bet that ties the line, so the stake is returned. Half-number lines like 5.5 or 1.5 cannot push; whole numbers like 6 can.
Terms from R to Z
- Regulation tie
- A game level after 60 minutes. 24.9% of games in 2025-26 were tied at the end of regulation, which matters for three-way and 60-minute lines.
- Reverse puck line
- The favorite at +1.5 or the underdog at -1.5. The first pays very little; the second pays a lot because the underdog has to win by two.
- ROI
- Return on investment: profit divided by the total amount staked. It is the honest way to measure results, because a high win rate on short favorites can still lose money.
- Same-game parlay
- A parlay with several legs from one game, such as a team to win and a player to score. Books price the legs together because they are often related.
- Save percentage
- The share of shots on goal a goalie stops. Among goalies with 40 or more starts in 2025-26, it ranged from .875 to .921.
- Sharp
- A bettor, or money, that the market respects because it tends to beat the closing line. Lines often move after sharp bets, not after big public ones.
- Shootout
- The tiebreaker after a scoreless overtime, three shooters a side to start. 9.1% of games in 2025-26 ended in a shootout, and the winner is credited with one goal.
- Sixty-minute line
- Also written 60-minute line: a bet settled on regulation only, with overtime and the shootout ignored. Often offered as a three-way market with the tie as its own outcome.
- Sportsbook
- A company that takes bets. In the US, legal sportsbooks are licensed and regulated by each state, usually for adults 21 and older.
- Three-way line
- A regulation-only market with three outcomes: home win, away win or tie. The win prices are longer than on a two-way moneyline because a tie loses both.
- Underdog
- The team the price expects to lose, shown with plus odds on the moneyline and +1.5 on the puck line.
- Unit
- A standard bet size, usually 1% to 2% of your bankroll. Talking in units instead of dollars keeps records comparable as the bankroll changes.
- Vig
- Short for vigorish: the margin a sportsbook builds into its prices. It is why both sides of a -110/-110 line imply more than 100% together.
No terms match that search. Try a shorter word, like "line" or "goal".
Terms that differ by sportsbook
Most of these words mean the same thing everywhere, but a few depend on each sportsbook's house rules. The big one is whether a market includes overtime and the shootout. Moneylines, puck lines and totals usually do; period lines and 60-minute lines do not. Player props can also settle differently when a player is scratched: some books void the bet, others grade it as a loss.
The shootout is the other source of confusion. For the final score it counts as one goal for the winner, whatever happened in the shootout itself. That is why a shootout game always ends with a one-goal margin, and why a -1.5 favorite can never cover one. Our overtime and shootout rules page walks through each market.
Grade and void rules are the third trap. A player prop usually stands only if the player takes at least one shift; if he is scratched, the bet is void and the stake comes back. A goalie prop is stricter at some books, which settle it only when that goalie starts. Period bets ignore overtime by definition, because the third period ends at sixty minutes. And a parlay with one voided leg does not lose: the leg drops out and the price is recalculated on the rest. Reading the settlement line before placing a bet takes ten seconds and saves most disputes.
If a term is not here, check the starting goalies and tonight boards, where we explain every column, or the power rankings for how we rate teams.
