What is the best indicator for NHL betting? Where is the smart money going?

One of the most popular indicators when it comes to betting on the NHL is to track where the so-called smart money is going. If you see a sudden and significant shift in the betting line on an NHL game – say the odds of the favored Pittsburgh Penguins suddenly get lower by -5 or -10, this is an indication that the sharps – as the heavy-wagering professional bettors are often referred to – are making sizable plays on Sidney Crosby and the Pens.

It’s generally believed that the sharps have access to inside information that other bettors might not, so by being patient and waiting to shift how a line moves, it call reveal to you where you should place your own wager.

This factor can work in the opposite direction as well. Maybe the Penguins are playing the Philadelphia Flyers and there’s a sudden run of wagers being placed on the underdog Flyers that causes the line to shift toward Philly. It could be that something unsettling has been unearthed regarding the Penguins, perhaps a key injury to one of their stars.

On game days, NHL teams hold morning skates, after which the players and coaches meet with the media to discuss the latest news about the team. From these reports, you can glean such vital information as who’s injured, who isn’t playing, who’s in goal and what the line combinations for the game will be. It’s always a good idea to wait get the details from this session before placing any wagers on that night’s games.

Just as pitching is vital in baseball, you don’t want to be putting your money down on an NHL team with suspect netminding. It doesn’t matter how good a team is if their goaltender can’t stop the puck. Goaltending is such an important quality that Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee once jokingly suggested that the Stanley Cup playoffs be renamed “Goalie.”

What percentage of success is solid goaltending? While there’s no specific metric that can define that quotient, we do know this – bad goaltending is 100 percent the root cause of failure for an NHL team.

Now that you have a handle on the indicators, all indications are that you should be ready to make some wagers on NHL games. And when you do, the folks at PointsBet will welcome you with a $25 free bet and two risk-free bets valued up to $1,000.