Before the men’s ice hockey tournament gets underway on Wednesday, hockey fans are in for a great slate of Olympic women’s ice hockey on Tuesday. Today’s schedule is headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Team USA and Team Canada which is sure to deliver plenty of fireworks. Both teams have yet to lose in this tournament, with the Americans owning a +14 goal differential through 3 games and the Canadians owning a goal differential of +8 through their 2 games thus far.
As puck drop for this highly-anticipated matchup inches closer, here is a look at our best bets for today’s slate of women’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics.
Winter Olympics Women’s Ice Hockey best bet: USA ML (-170) vs Canada
It’s not surprising to see Team USA and Team Canada as the teams with the best odds to win Gold in this tournament. Both teams are chalk-full of talent from top to bottom, but Team USA seems to have the edge in this particular matchup. The Americans should enter this contest with plenty of confidence. USA and Canada played a 4-game Rivalry Series over November and December, and Team USA won all 4 games in impressive fashion. The Americans out-scored the Canadians 24-7 in the series, and none of the 4 games were ever in doubt. While Team USA controlled the Rivalry Series, they are still looking for revenge from the last time these teams met in the Olympics. Team Canada defeated Team USA 3-2 to earn the Gold medal four years ago in Beijing. That should light a fire in the Americans to come out with an aggressive game plan.
Team USA’s No. 1 goaltender Aerin Frankel is well-rested and should be ready to roll between the pipes. Frankel went 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage against Team Canada in the Rivalry Series, and she should be able to stymie Canada’s offensive attack once again. Frankel can also benefit from Team USA’s well-rounded scoring attack, which features a big advantage on the blue line. Caroline Harvey and Megan Keller present many challenges for Team Canada, and with Harvey coming off a 3-point performance on Monday against Switzerland, look for Team USA’s impressive group of offensive-defenders to provide a spark in this one. Back the Americans to get the job done.
Winter Olympics Women’s Ice Hockey best bet: Switzerland +1.5 (-130) vs Finland
Approximately one hour after the puck drops for USA and Canada, another matchup will get underway as Switzerland battles Finland. The Finns are heavily favored on the moneyline with odds of -240 on FanDuel, but that is a bit surprising to see for many reasons. For starters, Finland has yet to score a goal through 2 games in this tournament. That doesn’t exactly warrant much confidence heading into this matchup. Furthermore, these teams have a common opponent in this tournament, as they’ve both battled Czechia. In those meetings, Finland lost 2-0 and Switzerland won 4-3.
Switzerland took on Team USA yesterday, and while the final score was a bit lop-sided at 5-0, Switzerland gave the Americans a tough battle. They had substantial pressure in the offensive zone throughout the 1st period, and trailed just 1-0 after 20 minutes. The score stayed that way until an unlucky bounce gave USA a 2-0 lead late in the 2nd period, and things unraveled from there. This matchup against Finland is much more manageable, and with odds of -130 on the puck line +1.5, look for Switzerland to put forth a competitive effort.
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