Are First To Three Goals and Total Shots on Goal wagers worth betting?

What is goals wager betting?

American gambling sites like PointsBet offer a race to goals wager option on NHL games and of these wagers, the race to three goals is probably the best of the bunch. It certainly is in terms of providing the most competitive odds of any of the race to goals markets.
For instance, on a game between the New York Islanders and Arizona Coyotes, PointsBet was offering -110 odds that the Islanders would be the first to reach the three-goal plateau, while the Coyotes were offered at odds of +200 to get to three goals first. The third betting option, that neither team would score three goals in the game, was valued at +360.

The reason why these odds all offer relatively decent return on investment is that in 2018-19, for the first time since the 2005-06, NHL teams averaged over three goals per game. That means it’s almost a certainty every night that some team will get to three goals, making this bet a fairly solid and reliable wager.

If you follow any of the daily sports betting tout services, you will discover that one of the more popular prop bets they recommend on a daily basis is the total shots on goal over/under market.

BetAmerica offers total shots on goal wagers on a variety of key players

A sportsbook such as BetAmerica will have on offer total shots on goal wagers on a variety of key players who are suiting up for a game. Let’s look at a Carolina Hurricanes-Montreal Canadiens game on offer at 888 Sport. You could place a total shots on goal wager on Hurricanes forward Sebastien Aho. The total shots for Aho is set at 2.5. You will get odds of -190 on the over 2.5 and +230 on the under 2.5.

By doing your research on Aho at NHL.com, you will discover that he’s put 224 shots on goal in 74 games, an average of 3.02 shots per game, so it looks as though the over is the play here. But you can dig deeper in your analysis. By calling up Aho’s game log for the season, you can decipher that he’s had five shots on goal in two games against Montreal, so he’s averaging the 2.5 total set by the sportsbook.

Both those games were at Montreal, though and this is a home game, where Carolina has the last change and can free Aho from the Habs’ top checkers. And he’s averaging 3.05 shots on goal per game at home, so maybe lean toward the over.
Neither of these bets should be the foundation of your wagering strategy. But by doing your homework, you can determine profitable times to pounce on one and gain a quick return!