Top 3 NHL Goal In First Ten Minutes (GIFT) Odds & Picks: Friday (12/15)
Betting the GIFT (Goal In First Ten) is easy. Pick whether or not a game will have a goal scored in the first 10 minutes of play (00:00-09:59). It's that simple and all you have to do is root for anyone to score and you win. It is one area of hockey betting that has a nearly league-wide positive success rate, meaning the vast majority of teams have had the GIFT cash in more games than not this season. I have been able to use this season’s GIFT numbers to amass a perfect 10-0-0 record so far this season. Make sure to tail my GIFT ideas this holiday season!
2023 Season: 10-0-0
Friday’s Best Goal In First Ten Minutes (GIFT) Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Ottawa Senators at Dallas Stars
The GIFT has a 100% hit rate (7-for-7) in Senators road games. The Senators' games have cashed in 16-of-24 games this season overall. Anton Forsberg is expected to start for the Senators and his 0.885 save percentage would make this matchup even more favorable.
Dallas has cashed the GIFT prop in five straight and eight of their last 10. They also cash at a 61% clip at home this season and nearly 63% overall.
Trends on both sides point toward this GIFT cashing and it’s especially hard to ignore that perfect Senators’ GIFT hit rate on the road and the Stars’ perfect hit rate in their last five. This is my best bet of the slate.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-140)
San Jose Sharks at Arizona Coyotes
The GIFT has a 60% hit rate (9-for-15) in Sharks road games this season. San Jose's games have cashed in 17-of-29 games this season overall. The Sharks are also starting Kaapo Kahkonen between the pipes with his 3.88 GAA and 0.894 save percentage.
Arizona has cashed the GIFT prop at a 76% clip at home this season. They have also cashed in six of their last 10 and at 63% rate overall.
I really like that 76% home GIFT strike rate for the Coyotes, especially paired with the Sharks’ favorable road strike rate and goalie matchup.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-140)
Boston Bruins at New York Islanders
The GIFT has a 0% hit rate (0-for-5) in the Bruins' last five games. Boston's games have only cashed the GIFT in 10-of-27 games (37%) over all this season, and just twice in their last 10 games.
The Islanders have had moderate success this season, cashing the GIFT prop in 15-of-28 contests (53.6%) overall, but that's still only good for 26th in the NHL. They have only cashed at a 56% clip at home this season, 22nd in the league.
This prop is returning +120 odds which is excellent value when the game involves Boston, who remains dead last in the league in GIFT strike percentage.
Value Pick: No Goal In First Ten (+120)
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Luke Monaldo is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @MoKnowsSports. For more from Luke, check out his archive.