It's hard to get a worse bad beat than one that happens with one-tenth of a second remaining in a game.
That's what happened Sunday night between the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights.
On the betting spread, the Golden Knights were 1.5 goal favorites. Anyone who bet the Wild was getting 1.5 goals on the spread. And the goal total was set at 5.5 for the over/under.
With a few seconds left, Vegas led Minnesota, 3-2. Anyone who had the Wild with the spread was feeling good, and the under was hitting.
But then, Brett Howden of Vegas took a shot at the empty net that the Wild had vacated to try and attack.
The puck skidded toward the goal as the clock wound toward zero.
The final ruling: A goal that crossed the line with only 0.1 seconds remaining.
The final score: Vegas 4, Minnesota 2. A win for Golden Knights spread bettors, and a loss for Wild spread bettors. And it pushed the goal total over 5.5.
Brett Howden's empty netter turns out to be a good goal by a tenth of a second 🫣 pic.twitter.com/aPW2LgHhT4
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 21, 2025
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The empty net goal is a huge factor in NHL betting. It's something that should always go into consideration for which side of the spread and the total to wager on.
But to happen with a tenth of a second left? That's brutal.
On the flip side, it's an exciting win for those who didn't think they were going to hit and that got just across the line.
There's always two sides to this coin, but holy cow, for at least some bettors, talk about an incredibly bad beat.
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