As the winter Olympics are close to the finish, we reach the hockey semifinals, where the best four teams will battle to take the gold medal to their county. After a big surprise seeing US and Canada going away, the competition saw the Russian Olympic Committee, Sweden, Finland, and Slovakia rise instead.
All these teams are huge pretenders for the gold medal. While making the right betting pick, it’s essential to know these teams’ betting stats and trends going to the semifinals.
Olympics Men’s Hockey Betting Stats
Finland vs Slovakia Stats
Finland has marched into the semifinals powered by two of the tournament’s top scorers. Sakari Manninen has produced six points in four games, including three goals. Teemu Hartikainen also has six points, scoring two goals.
Finland netminder Harri Sateri also ranks fifth statistically among participating goalies, stopping 95.4 percent of the shots he sees and producing 1.33 goals-against average. Finland won group C by winning three games and advanced to the semifinals with a 5-1 victory over Switzerland.
Slovakia pulled off the biggest shocker of the tournament, knocking off the United States, which had a +11 goal differential, by picking up a 3-2 shootout victory. Slovakia, which finished third in group C with a 1-2 record, had a -4 goal differential heading into the victory over the Americans.
Juaj Slafkovsky leads Slovakia in points, having pocketed five goals. Patrik Rybar is also having an excellent tournament in net, collecting 1.05 goals-against average and stopping 95.65 percent of the shots he sees.
Russian Olympics vs Sweden Stats
The Russian Olympic Committee is seeking its second straight Olympic victory. The nation won as the Olympic Athletes from Russia in 2018. ROC won Group B with two wins but did take an overtime loss to the Czech Republic. ROC advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Denmark.
The ROC have won by having a solid, disciplined group. Forward Nikita Gusev is ROC’s leading scorer with five points, which is 13th best in the tournament, with all five being assists. Nikita Nesterov has a team-high two goals for ROC.
Sweden may be the Rodney Dangerfield of Olympic hockey. Much time is always spent talking about ROC, the United States, and Canada, but the Swedes have been one of the better Olympics programs over the past 30 years. Sweden won the gold in 1994 and 2006 in addition to grabbing the silver medal in 2014.
Sweden finished second in Group C and reached the semifinals by blanking Canada 2-0. Lucas Wallmark is tied for a tournament-high five goals. Anton Lander has also buried three goals for Sweden.
Betting Trends for the Semifinals
- Finland and Slovakia have never won Olympic gold.
- ROC has only allowed one of its four opponents to score more than one goal.
- Finland scores 4.5 goals per game.
- Slovakia has a +1 goal differential between pool play and the knockout rounds.
- Finland has a +7 goal differential.
Olympics Men’s Hockey Semifinals Prediction
Finland is -345 on the moneyline, while Slovakia is +270. The over/under is set at five goals. ROC is -141 on the moneyline, while Sweden is +116. The over/under is set at five goals.
Sweden has overcome a loss to Finland in group play and shown itself to be a team that can handle all challenges. Finland has been solid throughout the tournament and are playing a Slovakia side that can be vulnerable to allowing goals.
Expect Sweden and Finland to advance to the finals and have a rematch of their group play matchup that Finland won in overtime.
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