Your team wins in overtime. You celebrate. Your ticket loses.
That is possible when you picked the team to win in regulation. Hockey offers several bets on the same team, and each asks a different question. Before chasing a bigger payout, make sure you know which question your ticket asks.
Research checked October 14, 2026, at 7:58 a.m. Eastern (EDT). All teams, scores, odds and stakes in the examples below are hypothetical. They are teaching examples, not current sportsbook offers or tonight’s picks. The named sportsbook pages are examples; check the rules attached to your own market and location.
Moneyline: does your team win the game?
A full-game, two-way NHL moneyline asks you to choose the eventual winner. The margin does not matter. A 2–1 win and a 6–1 win settle the same way for that selection.
BetMGM’s Canadian NHL guide describes its moneyline as including regulation, overtime and shootouts. Confirm that scope on the offer you are considering; the team name alone does not identify the market.
For example, suppose you choose Team A on a full-game moneyline. Regulation ends 2–2, and Team A wins in overtime. That ticket wins under the stated full-game rules. You needed the winner, not a comfortable victory.
Puck line: how much does your team win or lose by?
The puck line is hockey’s version of a spread. At -1.5, your team needs a two-goal win or better. At +1.5, your team can win outright or lose by one. A two-goal loss misses. That is the basic margin test explained in BetMGM’s puck-line explainer.
The half-goal does not mean anyone can score half a goal. It puts the dividing line between one-goal and two-goal margins.
- Team A wins 4–2: Team A -1.5 wins.
- Team A wins 3–2: Team A -1.5 loses.
- Team A loses 2–3: Team A +1.5 wins.
- Team A loses 2–4: Team A +1.5 loses.
These examples use ordinary two-way, full-game ±1.5 markets. Alternative lines and three-way handicaps have different requirements. The line and the odds are separate numbers: -1.5 tells you the margin; +140 tells you the price. Do not treat the plus sign on the price as a goal cushion.
Regulation: is your team ahead after 60 minutes?
A three-way regulation market offers Team A, Team B and a tie. Choose Team A, and it must lead when regulation ends. A tie means the tie selection wins; your Team A selection loses even if Team A later wins the game.
bet365’s published hockey rules settle its three-way moneyline at regulation’s end. They also list draw-no-bet as excluding overtime and shootouts. In that separate market, a regulation tie returns the stake on a single bet. A tie does not refund an ordinary three-way team selection.
The NHL’s 2026–27 rulebook, Rules 84.1 and 84.4, gives tied regular-season games up to five minutes of sudden-death overtime, normally with three skaters per side, then a shootout if needed. That extra hockey can decide the game after a regulation ticket has finished.
One game, six different tickets
Imagine regulation finishes 2–2. Team A then wins 3–2 in overtime. The table applies only to the ordinary markets specified in its headings.
| Selection | Result | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Team A full-game moneyline | Win | Team A wins the game |
| Team A full-game -1.5 | Loss | Only a one-goal win |
| Team B full-game +1.5 | Win | Only a one-goal loss |
| Team A three-way regulation | Loss | Regulation ends tied |
| Tie in three-way regulation | Win | Regulation ends tied |
| Team A regulation draw-no-bet | Stake returned | Tie triggers the stated single-bet refund |
No contradiction. Each ticket had a different requirement. “I picked the winner” is not enough to explain settlement.
A shootout does not create a two-goal win
For its markets including shootouts, bet365 adds one goal to the winning team and the game total for settlement. So a hypothetical 2–2 game decided by shootout settles as 3–2 under that rule. Multiple successful attempts do not become multiple team goals.
The winning side still has only a one-goal margin. Its ordinary full-game -1.5 selection loses; the opposing +1.5 selection wins. Do not assume that team-market shootout treatment also applies to a player prop. bet365’s same rules exclude shootouts from anytime-goalscorer settlement.
A bigger payout buys a different requirement
Suppose the same hypothetical Team A has these invented prices:
- Full-game moneyline: -160.
- Three-way regulation win: +110.
- Full-game -1.5: +150.
On a $10 cash single, a winning -160 bet profits $6.25, a winning +110 bet profits $11, and a winning +150 bet profits $15. Add the $10 stake to get total returns of $16.25, $21 and $25. A losing ticket loses its $10.
Those bigger payouts are attached to different outcomes. Team A winning eventually does not guarantee a regulation win or a two-goal margin. None of the three prices establishes value by itself.
For a win-or-lose cash single, those prices require break-even win rates of about 61.54%, 47.62% and 40%, respectively. You need a defensible chance estimate for that exact outcome before calling the price attractive. See our simple EV explainer for the next step.
Read the whole label before comparing prices
Write down the team, market, line, time scope and price. Compare another sportsbook only when all five match. Full-game moneyline and regulation moneyline are different selections, even when the same team is named.
If the scope or tie treatment is unclear, wait until you can find the applicable rules. For a puck line, ask whether your reasoning supports the required margin. For regulation, ask whether it supports being ahead before overtime. Knowing who you like is the starting point; knowing what must happen is the bet.
Once you have placed a supported bet elsewhere, BetSlip Live helps you import it, review detected legs and follow supported live progress. Check that the imported market matches your original ticket. Coverage varies by market and event; the app tracks bets and does not accept wagers.