The puck line is hockey's point spread, and it is almost always set at 1.5 goals: the favorite at -1.5 has to win by two or more, while the underdog at +1.5 cashes if it wins outright or loses by exactly one. Because a half goal can never be scored, the bet cannot push. Hockey is a low-scoring sport, so instead of moving the spread up and down like football or basketball, the books keep the number fixed at 1.5 and move the price on each side.
What the puck line actually is
A spread asks one question: does this team beat the number, not just the opponent? In football the number might be 3 or 7 or 13.5, depending on how lopsided the matchup looks. In hockey a typical game is decided by a goal or two, so a spread that slides around would not have much room to move. The puck line solves that by fixing the margin at 1.5 goals for nearly every game and letting the odds do the adjusting instead.
That gives you two sides on every NHL game:
- Favorite -1.5. Wins only if the favorite wins by two goals or more. A one-goal win loses the bet.
- Underdog +1.5. Wins if the underdog wins the game, and also if it loses by exactly one goal.
The logic is the same one covered in our guide to what a point spread is. Hockey just keeps the number still and moves the price.
Why the price flips
On the moneyline, the favorite carries a minus price and the underdog carries a plus price. The puck line often turns that around. Asking a favorite to win by two is a much harder task than asking it to win at all, so the favorite at -1.5 frequently pays plus money. Handing the underdog a goal and a half makes it much more likely to cash, so the underdog at +1.5 frequently costs minus money. You are trading payout for probability in both directions.
Take the spread at a fairer number.
Standard -110 juice is the house tax on every spread. On BettorEdge you set your line against other bettors and keep more of every win.
A worked example
Take an illustrative game where the favorite is -200 on the moneyline, the favorite -1.5 is priced at +130, and the underdog +1.5 is priced at -150. Here is what $100 does on each bet:
- Favorite moneyline at -200. Wins $50 if the favorite wins by any margin.
- Favorite -1.5 at +130. Wins $130, but only on a win by two goals or more.
- Underdog +1.5 at -150. Wins $66.67 if the underdog wins or loses by one.
$100 on each side. The favorite covers only above the line. A one-goal game of any kind belongs to the underdog.
Those prices also tell you what the market thinks. A +130 price implies a 43.5% chance (100 divided by 230), and a -150 price implies 60.0% (150 divided by 250). The two add up to 103.5%, and the 3.5 points above 100% is the margin built into the pair. Even with that margin included, the market gives the favorite well under a 50% chance to win by two, while -200 on the moneyline implies it wins the game about two times in three.
Overtime, shootouts and the one-goal problem
The most important thing to know about the puck line is how an extra-time game settles. At most sportsbooks the puck line includes overtime and the shootout, so check the house rules before you bet. That matters because every game decided after regulation ends as a one-goal game. In the regular season, a tie after 60 minutes goes to five minutes of sudden-death 3-on-3 overtime, and if nobody scores, a shootout. The shootout winner is credited with one goal, so a 3-3 game won in a shootout goes in the books as 4-3. In the playoffs there is no shootout, and overtime is played in full sudden-death periods until someone scores, which again produces a one-goal final.
So any game that reaches overtime is a loss for favorite -1.5 and a win for underdog +1.5, no matter who wins it. If you like a favorite but expect a tight, low-event game, the moneyline is the cleaner bet.
Empty-net goals
The other quirk is the empty net. A team trailing late often pulls its goalie for an extra attacker. Sometimes that produces the tying goal. Often it produces an empty-net goal the other way, which turns a one-goal lead into a two-goal final. That late swing is exactly the gap between -1.5 and +1.5, and it is why a puck line bet can flip in the last two minutes of a game that looked settled.
Alternate puck lines
Some boards also list alternate puck lines, such as -2.5 or +2.5. They work the same way with a wider margin and a bigger price swing. For today's matchups, start at the NHL hub.
The short version
The puck line is a 1.5-goal spread. The favorite at -1.5 needs a two-goal win and usually pays more than its moneyline. The underdog at +1.5 wins or loses by one and usually costs more than its moneyline. Overtime and shootout results are one-goal games, and late empty-net goals can move a result across the line in seconds, so read the price as a bet on the margin, not the winner.
Puck line FAQ
What does -1.5 mean on the puck line?
A -1.5 puck line means the team must win by two goals or more for the bet to win. A one-goal win, including any win in overtime or a shootout, loses the bet. Because winning by two is harder than just winning, the -1.5 side usually pays a better price than that team's moneyline.
Does the puck line include overtime and shootouts?
At most sportsbooks the puck line includes overtime and the shootout, so a game decided after regulation settles as a one-goal result. That means favorite -1.5 loses and underdog +1.5 wins on any overtime or shootout game. Always check the house rules, since a book can grade some markets on regulation time only.
Is the puck line better than the moneyline?
Neither is better in general, because the puck line and the moneyline price different outcomes. The puck line pays more on a favorite in exchange for needing a two-goal win, and costs more on an underdog in exchange for the extra goal and a half. Compare the implied probability of each price with your own read of the game and bet whichever one leaves you the bigger edge.
On a puck line, a few cents of margin on each side is the difference between a fair price and a bad one. On BettorEdge community odds you set your own price on the margin you believe in and match it against another real bettor, with no house hold stacked on top. Open BettorEdge and get this price for real, peer-to-peer.
Take the spread at a fairer number.
Standard -110 juice is the house tax on every spread. On BettorEdge you set your line against other bettors and keep more of every win.