Top NHL GIFT & Anytime Goal Scorer Prop Bet Picks: Saturday (10/12)
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 93.75% of the league currently cashing at 50% or better last season.
Anytime Goal Scorer props are even easier. Pick a player to score and if they light the lamp at any point, you win!
We got off to a most excellent start to the season nailing six of our nine bets so far. Let’s keep it going this weekend!
As always: Tail me for cash, fade me for trash!
For additional prop bets check out our brand new daily NHL Prop Bet Cheat Sheet. Additionally, I will post my favorite bets in the BettingPros Discord, which is free to join and filled with info from some of the sharpest analysts in the field, including myself.
Saturday’s Best GIFT & Anytime Goal Scorer Prop Bets
2024 Record: 6-3 |Last: 1-2 | Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens
This is 2023 holdover play. Last season, Ottawa began the season on a 20+ game undefeated GIFT streak on the road. They ended the season around 90% which is just bananas and we are betting that. The Sens, although they were at home, are already 1-0 cashing GIFTs this season after Tim Stutzle lit the lamp at the 5:52 mark for the first of his two goals on Thursday.
Ottawa will have Linus Ullmark in goal tonight and he finished last season with a 2.58 Goals Against Average and a .915 Save Percentage. He also carried a 22-10-7 record in 39 starts. The brand new Senator is 1-0 with 1.00 GAA and .968 Save% in the early goings but this will be his first start as a Senator away from the friendly confines of Canadian Tire Centre.
On the other side of the ice, Montreal will likely counter with Sam Montembeault. The 27-year-old went 16-15-9 with a 3.14 GAA in 41 appearances last season. Montembeault is 1-0-0 this season having shut out the potent Maple Leafs offense in 1-0 victory. For what it’s worth, a 1-0 game is the only time a shutout truly matters to a goalie.
On paper, between these two goalies, this play might seem counterintuitive but the -175 returns show Vegas remembers the Sens’ 2023 road GIFT numbers all too well.
These teams last met back on April 13 and the GIFT cashed with at the 9:11 mark. There went on to be nine total goals in that one so these teams know to find the back of the net against each other.
Pick: Goal In First Ten (-175)
Anytime Goal Scorer Picks
Anze Kopitar (+240) – 3G in L1, 1G vs. Boston in ’23, 17-of-26 G (.654) in ’23 on road
Filip Forsberg (+135) – 1G in L1, 3G vs. Detroit in ’23, 26-of-48 G (.542) in ’23 on road
ATG Parlay Odds: +699
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.