NHL live betting is a profitable wagering strategy thanks to all the parity in the league. But it's only profitable if you know a team's record when scoring or conceding the first goal. 

Our NHL live betting reports are the resource for live bettors. The first table shows every team's record when scoring first and when leading after the first and second periods. The second table is the opposite, it tracks every team's record when conceding first. 

NHL Teams When Leading

*The numbers in parenthesis are the scoring differential after each phase.

Takeaways From ‘When Leading’ Table

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pens scored first the fifth-most last year at 47 times. They also had the seventh-lowest win rate when scoring first at 59%. Pittsburgh finished three points out of a playoff spot. Surely had they converted a few more games where they scored first, they would have made the post-season.

And now their two stars are a year older. Expecting 37-year-old Crosby and 38-year-old Makin to be 30-40 goal scorers is asking a lot. Sid scored 42 and Malkin had 27, but they're at the point of their careers where we should expect diminishing returns. 

I doubt the Penguins put themselves in winning positions (by scoring first) as often as they did last year and we'll see more games slip through their hands in 2024-25.

Winnipeg Jets

Holding a lead is easier when you have two-time Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes. Allowing them to score first, which happened a league-leading 41 times, was almost a guaranteed loss with Winnipeg pickup 35 wins (85%). 

The Jets have suffered no major losses to their group so far in the offseason, but perhaps a new coach in Scott Arniel might unsettle things. Arniel's last NHL coaching job was from 2010-11 to 2011-12 when he coached Columbus. During his tenure, the Blue Jackets had the third-worst goals-against-per-game rate at 3.09.

So hold off on betting that the Jets will be this defensive powerhouse in 2024-25. Give Arniel's system a few games to see how it all plays out.

NHL Teams When Trailing 

*The numbers in parenthesis are the scoring differential after each phase.

Takeaways From ‘When trailing’ Table

St Louis Blues

The Blues are a funny team when you look at these two reports. St. Louis has the second-best win rate when scoring first at 85%, but also has the seventh-worst losing rate when conceding first (77%). Only San Jose, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Columbus, Chicago, and Anaheim were worse.

They win when they should and lose when they should. There's no in-between with the Blues.

St. Louis brought in more depth with Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph, and Ryan Sutter but I doubt any of those acquisitions will do enough to change the Blues.

New York Rangers

Never count the Rangers out. Not only did they have a rare winning record when conceding first (20-16), but they had the second-most wins when trailing going into the third period with 10.

With so many offensive threats like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Adam Fox it's easy to see how the Rangers get themselves out of trouble so often.