Men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics wraps up on Saturday with a gritty bronze medal match between Slovakia and Finland at 14:40 ET.
Finland succumbed to the might of the talented Canadians, while the United States decimated Slovakia, setting up a fierce third-place match. Either side can still earn a medal for this year’s Winter Games, but it will take hard work, focus, and determination to claim it.
Finland does showcase a bit more talent on their side, and are -305 favourites in this competitive matchup against Slovakia, priced at +245.
Slovakia managed to beat the Finnish squad 4-1 in the preliminary round, but only placed first in Group B on head-to-head, even though Finland showcased a much better goal differential (11).
Finland had a close call in their match against Switzerland but came out on top 3-2 in OT and covered a -1.5 in beating Sweden 4-1, and destroyed Italy 11-0. They were also just one goal away from tying a very formidable Canadian squad, but couldn’t hold on to their narrow two-goal lead, however, they still look worthy favorites for this bronze medal match.
Slovakia only beat Italy 3-2 and lost to Sweden 5-3, not even covering a +1.5 spread, which comes as a surprise considering they beat Finland in the first matchup. They also completely collapsed 6-2 to the United States and were fortunate to grab the two consolation goals they got.
Finland is completely capable of opening the floodgates against good squads, especially with personnel from the top teams in the NHL, including Sebastian Aho, Armia Joel, Lehkonen Artturi, and Rantanen Mikko, so if anything, expect a Finland victory and for them to cover the -1.5 puck line.
The last bout in the Prelims between the two sides only saw five goals scored in total.
Finland has only had one game with five goals or more, and that was their 11-goal demolition of Italy. They’ve averaged four goals in their last five games, which, if you factor out the Italy game, is 10 goals in four for two-and-a-half per match.
Slovakia has 18 goals in five games, with three games in a row ending with exactly eight goals. But a medal match will likely involve fewer mistakes, leading to fewer goals.
Considering both teams’ average goals per game (excluding Finland’s blowout against Italy), this game lines up to have around five to six expected goals, and when factoring in their last 4-1 result and this being a bronze medal match, this one’s set for under 5.5 goals.
The 6’5” Dallas Stars right winger Mikko Rantanen netted for Finland against Canada, a team tied for the fewest goals allowed (8), and he can repeat that trick in this bronze medal showdown.
He’s got two in the tournament already, one against Sweden and one against Canada, and considering the stakes of this game and his rate of two goals in three games, he could have a decisive say on proceedings.
Read more betting picks and predictions for the Olympics on site.
Slovakia
+245
Finland
-305
Puck Line
Finland -1.5
Total
O/U 5.5
Mikko Rantanen (Finland)
+140
Mikael Granlund (Finland)
+160
Roope Hintz (Finland)
+170
Juraj Slafkovsky (Slovakia)
+200
Sebastian Aho (Finland)
+210
Artturi Lehkonen (Finland)
+240
Read the latest Olympics news on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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