Painted lone skater on a breakaway in three-on-three overtime

Settlement

NHL Overtime and Shootout Rules for Betting: What Counts for a Bet

About one NHL game in four is still tied after 60 minutes. What happens next settles a huge number of bets, and not always the way people expect. The shootout scores one goal no matter how long it lasts, the puck line favorite can never cover, and some markets stop the clock at regulation. Here is what counts, market by market, with 2025-26 frequencies.

Data updated October 12, 2026 at 10:50 AM ETBy the HockeyBetting.us desk

How often games go past regulation.

Share of each team's 2025-26 regular-season games decided in overtime or a shootout. Click a column to sort.

24.9%of games past regulation

15.8%decided in overtime

9.1%went to a shootout

Team	Past regulation	Overtime	Shootout
Los Angeles Kings	40.2%33 of 82 games	23.2%	17.1%
Philadelphia Flyers	34.1%28 of 82 games	17.1%	17.1%
Minnesota Wild	32.9%27 of 82 games	21.9%	11.0%
Vegas Golden Knights	31.7%26 of 82 games	20.7%	11.0%
Montréal Canadiens	29.3%24 of 82 games	18.3%	11.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets	29.3%24 of 82 games	18.3%	11.0%
Dallas Stars	29.3%24 of 82 games	17.1%	12.2%
Anaheim Ducks	28.1%23 of 82 games	18.3%	9.8%
Toronto Maple Leafs	28.0%23 of 82 games	21.9%	6.1%
Pittsburgh Penguins	28.0%23 of 82 games	12.2%	15.8%
Boston Bruins	26.8%22 of 82 games	18.3%	8.5%
Carolina Hurricanes	25.6%21 of 82 games	14.6%	11.0%
Detroit Red Wings	25.6%21 of 82 games	18.3%	7.3%
Chicago Blackhawks	25.6%21 of 82 games	15.8%	9.8%
Edmonton Oilers	24.4%20 of 82 games	19.5%	4.9%
Nashville Predators	24.4%20 of 82 games	15.8%	8.5%
San Jose Sharks	24.4%20 of 82 games	19.5%	4.9%
New York Islanders	23.2%19 of 82 games	12.2%	11.0%
Seattle Kraken	23.2%19 of 82 games	13.4%	9.8%
Winnipeg Jets	23.2%19 of 82 games	15.8%	7.3%
Colorado Avalanche	22.0%18 of 82 games	9.8%	12.2%
Vancouver Canucks	22.0%18 of 82 games	12.2%	9.8%
New York Rangers	21.9%18 of 82 games	17.1%	4.9%
Ottawa Senators	20.7%17 of 82 games	15.8%	4.9%
Buffalo Sabres	20.7%17 of 82 games	13.4%	7.3%
Tampa Bay Lightning	19.5%16 of 82 games	12.2%	7.3%
Calgary Flames	19.5%16 of 82 games	11.0%	8.5%
Utah Mammoth	19.5%16 of 82 games	19.5%	0.0%
St. Louis Blues	19.5%16 of 82 games	13.4%	6.1%
New Jersey Devils	19.5%16 of 82 games	13.4%	6.1%
Washington Capitals	18.3%15 of 82 games	8.5%	9.8%
Florida Panthers	14.6%12 of 82 games	6.1%	8.5%

Regular season only. Overtime means the game ended on an overtime goal; shootout means it went all the way.Methodology →

Replay a real game

Watch overtime settle the bets.

Pick a game from the last few nights and move through it goal by goal. Every common market shows whether it is winning at that moment, and how it finally settled.

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Rules used: standard US settlement. Moneyline, puck line and totals include overtime and the shootout; a shootout winner is credited with one goal. The 60-minute line settles after regulation. Check your sportsbook's house rules. Source: official NHL play-by-play.

The NHL overtime format, in short

In the regular season, a game tied after three periods goes to five minutes of sudden-death overtime at 3-on-3. The first goal wins. If nobody scores, the game goes to a shootout: three rounds per team, then sudden-death rounds until one team scores and the other does not. Both teams leave with a point in the standings, and the winner gets a second one.

The league has used the shootout since 2005-06 and switched overtime from 4-on-4 to 3-on-3 in 2015-16. The 3-on-3 format ends far more games before the shootout, because open ice turns every turnover into an odd-man rush. In 2025-26, 15.8% of games were decided in overtime and 9.1% went to a shootout.

What counts toward each bet

Most US sportsbooks follow the same pattern for NHL betting with overtime and shootouts, with a few markets that vary. Treat this table as the usual rule and the house rules at your sportsbook as the final word.

Market	Overtime	Shootout
Moneyline (two-way)	Counts	Counts, winner wins the bet
Puck line	Counts	Winner credited one goal
Game total	Counts	One goal added to the total
Three-way and 60-minute lines	Ignored	Ignored
Team totals	Varies by book	Varies by book
Player goals, points, shots	Usually counts	Never counts
Goalie saves	Usually counts	Never counts
Third period bets	Not part of the period	Not part of the period

The odd ones are team totals, where books genuinely disagree, and anytime goalscorer markets, which a minority of books grade on regulation only. If a bet description says “including overtime” or “regulation only”, that line beats anything you read here.

The shootout goal and your total

The shootout is not scored like hockey. Whoever wins it gets one goal added to its overtime score, full stop. Five shooters scoring on each side in a ten-round shootout still produces a single credited goal.

For totals this is the rule that catches people out. A 2-2 game that reaches the shootout is going to finish on five, so the over 4.5 is a winner and the under 5.5 is safe before the first attempt. A 3-3 game finishes on seven. Because the extra goal is always exactly one, every game decided past regulation ends on an odd total. The over/under guide shows how that shapes the distribution of final scores.

The puck line resolves at the siren

Once regulation ends tied, the final margin will be one goal whatever happens next. The +1.5 underdog has already won and the -1.5 favorite has already lost. Our puck line cover data counts those games for every team.

What the overtime data shows

The spread between teams is wide. Los Angeles Kings went past regulation in 40.2% of its games, Florida Panthers in only 14.6%. Los Angeles Kings reached the shootout most often, in 17.1% of games. Teams that play tight, low-event hockey with a strong goalie drift toward extra time, which helps their +1.5 and hurts their -1.5. A single season is a small sample, though, and overtime frequency tends to drift back toward the league rate.

Sixty-minute markets

Regulation lines strip out the extra time entirely. On a three-way moneyline you choose home, away or tie, and the tie cashed in 24.9% of 2025-26 games. Sixty-minute puck lines and totals use the score at the end of the third period, so a 2-2 game stays a four-goal under on a 4.5 line, even if it later goes to a shootout.

These markets suit a bettor who thinks a team will win in regulation, or who wants no part of 3-on-3 randomness. The price for that certainty is a larger margin, because the book is pricing three outcomes. The moneyline guide works through a fair price for the tie.

There is a quieter use for them too. Late in a regular season, two teams fighting for a playoff spot sometimes play a tied third period very carefully, because a regulation loss costs them the point that overtime guarantees. Nobody publishes a clean number for that effect, and it varies with the standings, but it is one reason a regulation tie can be worth a look in April that it would not be in November.

Player props and the shootout

Shootout goals are not goals in the NHL record book. A player who scores twice in a shootout gets nothing added to his goal or point totals, and a goalie's shootout stops are not saves. That is why player props normally ignore the shootout while counting overtime. If you hold a shots-on-goal over that needs one more shot, 3-on-3 overtime is a decent friend: five minutes of open ice usually produces several shots. Our player props board tracks shot and goal rates, and the goalie board covers save props.

Playoff overtime changes the math

The postseason drops 3-on-3 and the shootout. Overtime is a full 20-minute period at five-on-five, repeated until somebody scores. Bets that count overtime keep running through every extra period, but the one-goal rule still holds: the game ends on the first goal, so the margin past regulation is always one and the total rises by exactly one.

Playoff games also tend to be tighter, and multiple-overtime games are rare but long. An over that needs just one more goal in a tied playoff game heading to overtime is already a winner in waiting, because the game cannot end until somebody scores. For the season ahead, the tonight board and the power rankings are where to start.

Questions & answers

Questions,
answered.

Short answers to the questions readers ask most.

Does overtime count on an NHL moneyline bet?

On the standard two-way moneyline, yes. Overtime and the shootout both count, and the bet is graded on who wins the game. Only three-way or 60-minute moneylines stop at the end of regulation. In 2025-26, 24.9% of games went past regulation, so the difference between the two kinds of line affects about one game in four.

How is a shootout scored for betting?

The team that wins the shootout is credited with one goal, added to its score at the end of overtime. It does not matter whether the shootout lasted three rounds or ten: a 2-2 game becomes 3-2. That credited goal counts for the moneyline, the puck line and the game total, but not for player goals, points or most goalie props.

Can a -1.5 puck line win in overtime?

No. A regular-season overtime ends on the first goal, and a shootout adds exactly one goal for the winner, so any game that goes past regulation finishes with a one-goal margin. The -1.5 side loses and the +1.5 side wins as soon as regulation ends tied. Some sportsbooks also post a 60-minute puck line, which settles on the regulation score only.

Do player props count overtime goals?

At most US sportsbooks, yes: a goal, assist or shot in overtime counts toward player props. Shootout attempts do not, because the NHL does not record them as goals or shots in the official statistics. Some books grade anytime goalscorer bets on regulation only, so read the market rules before betting late in a tied game.

Are playoff overtime rules different?

Yes. In the Stanley Cup playoffs there is no shootout and no 3-on-3. Teams play full 20-minute periods at five-on-five until somebody scores, however long that takes. Every bet that counts overtime keeps counting through each extra period, and totals can climb only by that single winning goal.

What is a 60-minute line?

A 60-minute line, also called a regulation or three-way line, is settled on the score after three periods. Overtime and the shootout are ignored. The three-way moneyline adds the tie as a third outcome, which cashed 24.9% of the time in 2025-26. Sixty-minute puck lines and totals work the same way.