Top 3 NHL Goal In First Ten Minutes (GIFT) Odds & Picks: Saturday (12/30)
Betting the GIFT (Goal In First Ten) is simple. 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 easy 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 with 84.3% of the league currently cashing at 50% or better this season. I have been able to use this season’s GIFT numbers to pick winners with extreme accuracy. Tail me for cash, fade me for trash!
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Saturday’s Best Goal In First Ten Minutes (GIFT) Bets
2023 Season: 33-6-0 (.846) | Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Columbus Blue Jackets at Buffalo Sabres
The Blue Jackets have cashed GIFTs at a 64% clip (24-for-37) this season, good for 10th in the NHL. They have cashed at a 62% rate in road games this season. Columbus has been on a GIFT heater of late, cashing in four of their last five and 10-of-11 games overall, including four straight away from Nationwide Arena.
The Sabres have cashed this prop in nearly 71% of their home games this season. KeyBank Center GIFTs have accounted for 12 of Buffalo’s 21 overall cashes this season. The Sabres have also cashed in four of their last five and six of ten overall.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-180)
Carolina Hurricanes at Toronto Maple Leafs
The Hurricanes’ road GIFT continues to fly under the radar with their 80% strike rate (16-for-20) on the season away from PNC Arena. Their road strike rate is behind only Ottawa’s perfect 11-for-11, however, Carolina’s 80% is from a 20-game sample size, nearly twice the size of the Sens’. The Canes' games have also cashed this prop in 23-of-36 games this season overall. Carolina’s games have cashed the GIFT in three of their last five and seven of ten.
Toronto’s 21-12 (.636) season strike rate ranks 13th in the league. The Maple Leafs have cashed in 64% of their home games which is even slightly better than their overall cash rate. Toronto has cashed in four of their last five and eight of their last ten overall.
The Leafs fell victim to Ottawa’s road GIFT perfection on Wednesday in a matchup that saw the GIFT odds fall below -200. By that metric, with Carolina’s larger sample size of road success, this matchup offers much more value at -166.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-166)
St. Louis Blues at Pittsburgh Penguins
The Blues have cashed GIFTs at a 68% clip (24-for-35) this season and their 24 GIFT hits are tied for fifth-most in the NHL behind only the Lightning (26), Blackhawks (25), Canucks (25), and Wild (25). The Blues have been even better at cashing GIFTs on the road, hitting at an incredible 72%. They have also cashed in nine of their last twelve games, including three of their last four away from Enterprise Center.
Pittsburgh has cashed at a nice 73% rate at home this season. PPG Paints Arena GIFTs have made up 11 of their 20 cashes (55%) this season. The Pens have hit this prop in six of their last ten games overall including three straight in Pittsburgh.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-160)
Parlay Odds: +305
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Luke Monaldo is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @MoKnowsSports and Discord @alydar1227 AKA The GIFTing Crooner. For more from Luke, check out his archive.