NHL GIFT Stats

Goal In First 10 Minutes Hockey Stats

NHL GIFT Prop Betting

Sometimes as a bettor, we don’t want the entire roller coaster ride that comes with watching a 3-hour NHL hockey game.

Or sometimes, maybe we just have somewhere to go.

Whatever the reason, NHL GIFT betting is taking off and quickly becoming the most popular NHL game prop currently on the market.

GIFT stands for Goal In First Ten (minutes), and it is exactly what it sounds like.

A bettor must decide if either team will score a goal within the first ten minutes of a hockey game. (The opposite bet to a GIFT is called an NGFT)

For those familiar with MLB betting and the very popular NRFI prop bet, this is the NHL’s version of an NRFI.

NRFI stands for No Run First Inning, and just like our NHL GIFT, it’s over in a hurry and gaining in popularity.

Betting NHL Goal In First 10 Minutes

In the 2021-22 NHL Season, the average goals per game for an NHL team was 3.14.

Obviously, that means NHL game averages just under 6.3 goals per game. (3.14 x 2)

The last time teams averaged as many as 3.14 goals per game was the 1995-96 season, when Mario Lemieux led the league in scoring, with 161 points in 70 games. (Lemieux himself averaged 2.3 points per game that year.)

The above table breaks down the average amount of goals scored in the first period for the 2021 season.

Only 17% of the games league-wide don’t have a first-period goal.

Over the last 15 years, the league average was 19%.

This tells us that first-period scoring is also going up.

The increased scoring across the league led to an adjustment in GIFT betting odds this past year.

Traditionally, hockey fans often compared the first ten minutes of a hockey game to the first round of a heavy-weight boxing match.

Often there is a feeling-out process to a boxing match, with both fighters sizing up their opponent early before going into full attack.

However, that feeling-out process no longer exists in the NHL.

Bettors can expect between 55% to 60% of regular season NHL games to have a goal scored within the first ten minutes.

For those NHL betting junkies, another popular first-period bet is the over/under wager.

NHL GIFT Betting Odds

If 55% of NHL games have a goal scored within the first ten minutes, bettors will see that GIFTs are often a decent-sized betting favorite.

Odds & Probabilities Chart

Odds	Probability	Odds	Probability
-105	51.28%	+105	48.78%
-110	52.63%	+110	47.62%
-120	54.64%	+120	45.45%
-125	55.56%	+125	44.44%
-139	58.14%	+138	42.02%

Our odds and probability table above shows us that if something has an expected probability of 55.56%, then a bettor can expect odds around -125, plus some juice from the sportsbook.

The opposite occurs if you are looking to take the other side.

Bettors who take the NGFT bet are looking at odds closer to +120.

Handicapping NHL GIFT Bets

Now that we understand close to 55% of the games will have a goal within the first ten minutes, we need to start handicapping individual games

Last year, the explosive Edmonton Oilers averaged just under 4 goals per game. (GPG). Meanwhile, teams like the Canadiens and Coyotes struggled to consistently score goals, but their leaky defense allowed for many opportunities.

This type of information is important when making our GIFT bets.

If we are used to seeing GIFT odds around -135, and suddenly we see -110 because Arizona is playing the Philadelphia Flyers (2.56 GPG), we should understand why.

2022-23 Top 5 Teams – Goals Per Game

Team	Goals Per Game
Edmonton Oilers	3.96
Boston Bruins	3.67
Buffalo Sabres	3.57
New Jersey Devils	3.52
Seattle Kraken	3.52

Understanding which teams score a lot and which teams don’t is always important when deciding on a GIFT bet.

Injuries are also a critical piece of information we should analyze.

Last year, Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche averaged 1.56 points per game, trailing only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl across the league.

However, MacKinnon played in only 71 total games, which means he missed 11.

Losing a player averaging nearly 1.6 points per game is a big deal, especially when teams who average 3.5 goals per game are considered elite.

What Is The NHL GIFT Standings Page

After each night of NHL hockey, BestOdds.com will update our NHL GIFT standings page and share that information on our website.

This page will track every NHL game and the GIFT results for all 32 NHL teams. Stats will be presented in a league-wide format and for individual teams.

BestOdds.com will be your number-one resource if you are an NHL GIFT bettor looking for GIFT stats and information.

How To Use GIFT Standings For Betting

The BestOdds.com GIFT standings page will become a valuable resource for bettors because it compiles a lot of the league-wide and individual team trends that help us form our decisions.

A bettor can quickly determine the GIFT success rate across the entire NHL and for each individual team.

They can then compare those percentages to the odds offered and see if they can find some value to bet.

Bettors will also be able to identify trends and streaks. If GIFTS have hit a 66% success rate over the last week, that is important information.

Are there more goals being scored across the league? Are sportsbooks slow to react and late moving their numbers?

Or do we want to bet on a market correction over the next week and expect things to return to a more typical 55% success rate?

How To Bet NHL GIFTS

Although the industry-wide accepted term for this bet is called a GIFT, not every sportsbook labels it the same way.

We know that every licensed operator offers this NHL bet, and below, we walk you through how to find them quickly at different operators.

BetMGM GIFT Bets

• Sign up for a new account at BetMGM.
• Use Bet 10 Win 200 NHL promo for GIFT betting.
• Once you have navigated to the hockey section and clicked on a specific game, you will want to click on the Game Props tab.
• BetMGM offers this bet as Time of First Goal.
• At BetMGM, you have to be careful with their rules. Their bet is for a goal within the first 9-minutes, not 10.
• For one specific bet, that additional minute may not come into play. However, because you are losing 10% of your time to cash that GIFT, a bettor will want to ensure they are getting better odds with BetMGM than other sportsbooks offering it as a 10-minute bet.

FanDuel GIFT Bets

• Sign up for a new account at FanDuel.
• Use No Sweat $1,000 bonus for NHL betting.
• At FanDuel, once you have navigated to the NHL section and clicked on a specific game, you will want to hit the 1st Period tab.
• Under the 1st Period tab, FanDuel lists this bet as: Goal scored in first 10-minutes.
• You will notice at FanDuel that they provide the actual time of 00:00 – 09:59 on their site. This reminds us the goal must occur BEFORE 10:00 in the first period.

DraftKings GIFT Bets

• Sign up for a new account at DraftKings.
• Use Bet 5 Win 200 current NHL promo.
• DK has a user-friendly feature where you don’t have to click on an individual game to see GIFT odds.
• The hockey section of their online sportsbook has a Periods tab. If you click on this tab, a Goal in the first ten tab appears near the top.
• This page provides the GIFT betting odds for each game being played simply by scrolling up or down.
• This feature is convenient because it allows you to view all your GIFT odds within seconds instead of navigating to individual games as you do with other operators.

Know The GIFT Rules

The odds of the first goal happening exactly at the 10:00 mark of the first period is rare, but definitely possible. Play this bet enough times and it is bound to happen.

With most online sportsbooks, a GIFT is considered to have occurred before 10-minutes in the first period.

If on the rare occasion the first goal in the game occurs at exactly 10:00 of the first, most places count that as a losing bet.

If you aren’t sure of the GIFT rules at your operator, and they aren’t clearly displayed within the bet, you can always reach out to their online customer support team and ask.

Always Shop Around

Earlier we compared the NHL GIFT to the MLB NRFI bet and discussed how both wagers occur very early into a game and that both are becoming extremely popular amongst prop bettors.

BestOdds.com spent the 2023 MLB Season tracking every major league game for NRFI results and it’s from our detailed NRFI database where we pull the below odds from.

2023 MLB NRFI Odds Comparison

Matchup	Caesars	FanDuel	DraftKings
Cleveland vs. Kansas City	-130	-114	-145
Arizona vs. Colorado	+150	+130	+135
Pittsburgh vs. Colorado	+120	+138	-105

Our table above is just three sets of MLB NRFI odds.

These are three random games and not the games with the biggest odds discrepancies.

Even in these three random games, we can see significant differences between the sportsbooks.

In our first example, a bettor seeking to win a profit of $100 would have to risk an additional $30 by selecting the -145 line.

The third game between Pittsburgh and Colorado shows the NRFI as a +138 at FanDuel and a -105 at DraftKings.

For a $100 bettor, that is a difference in profit of over $40 on just this one bet alone.

Now imagine having placed 100 bets throughout the course of a season and finding NHL odds discrepancies like this repeatedly throughout the season.

When it comes to gaining an edge against sportsbooks, the single greatest tool a bettor has at their disposal is the ability to shop around for the Best Odds.

Looking for more stats? Check out the NFL First Drive stats for betting.