Canada Women's Hockey vs. USA: Betting Analysis for Tonight's Game

After predictable blowouts, the United States and Canada women hockey teams will meet tonight for one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics.

For the sports betting public, it will likely be the first of two matchups with each team heavily favoured to reach the gold medal final.

U.S. and Canada Are Dominant at Olympics

The U.S. and Canada have combined to win all seven Olympic women’s hockey tournaments and have met in the past three Olympic finals. Only once has anyone else even earned a silver medal, and that was at the 2006 Torino Games.

“It could be a big match,” Canadian forward Sarah Fillier said after her team’s 6-1 win over the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Sunday. “It's exciting. We have a huge rivalry with the U.S. and we've been building our game in every game of this tournament.".

Both countries have gone unchallenged through their first three games in the preliminary round, with the U.S. outscoring its opponents 13-2 and Canada holding a 29-3 scoring advantage.

The U.S. and Canada both automatically qualified for the quarterfinal round because of their pre-Olympic rankings, and regardless of the final result tonight, both will likely earn the top two seeds, which would set up another Gold Medal final between the two rivals.

“It’s one of the best rivalries in sports,” USA coach Joel Johnson told reporters after his team defeated Switzerland 8-0 on Sunday. “I would put it up against anything. Any sport. I’m telling you, for those who don’t have a familiarity with it, it’s absolutely must-watch. Anytime U.S. and Canada play, it could be on a pond — and you put two of those jerseys on, and certainly all of a sudden the intensity ramps up.”

Canada Favoured Against U.S.

The U.S. captured gold in PyeongChang, defeating Canada 3-2 in a shootout to capture its first gold medal in 20 years. But the Canadians have had more recent success in the lead-up to tonight’s contest.

The two teams played six contests in a pre-Olympic Rivalry series that started in October and Canada tallied a 4-1-1 record in those games. Most of the matchups were close, with four decided by one goal and three games that went to overtime.

Given Canada’s recent success, it is favoured to win in the U.S. and Canada. On the ProLine+ Sportsbook in Ontario, Canada is –149 on the moneyline while the U.S. is +110.

At DraftKings Sportsbook, Canada is –150 on the moneyline and the U.S. is a +125 underdog. The total is currently set at 5.

Canada Overcomes Weird Delay to Roll Past ROC

The only thing that stopped Canada’s dominant run in Beijing was a strange pause on Monday. Before Canada would defeat the Russian Olympic Committee 6-1, there was a lengthy delay because of safety concerns.

The ROC did not provide Canada with its COVID-19 test results after the ROC had been dealing with an outbreak within the team. Six ROC members were in isolation last week after testing positive.

Eventually, the game started with players on both teams wearing masks. Then, in the third period, the ROC played without their masks while Canada’s players kept using them.

Despite the delay, it didn’t take Canada long to strike. Sarah Nurse scored just 2:09 into the game before Sarah Fillier tallied a goal 20 seconds later for a quick 2-0 lead.

"I didn't expect this, but we have said all year that nothing fazes us and this didn't faze us,” Canada’s Brianne Jenner told the press afterward. “Our GM said we were wearing masks and we were like, 'OK, let's go win a game in masks.' Not a big deal for us, we have been training a lot in these. Just another opportunity to prove that we could get the job done."

U.S. Impressive Against Switzerland

Sunday’s 8-0 win over Switzerland was Team USA’s best performance yet, with five different players scoring.

The Americans received two goals each from Hillary Knight, Kelly Panek and Jesse Compher. It was a momentum-building performance for the U.S. and could be key as it continues to play without center Brianna Decker, who suffered a tournament-ending injury in its Olympic-opener against Finland.

Defensively, the U.S. has been strong throughout the tournament. The Americans have allowed only 12 shots on goal and not more than six in any period.