While the Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament is getting underway, things are starting to wind down for the women. The Women’s Olympic Hockey Quarterfinals start on Friday, with Team USA as the odds-on favorite to win gold. They’ll face off against Italy in their quarterfinal matchup.
USA breezed through the preliminary round, scoring 20 goals while allowing just 1 in four games. On the other side, Italy won just two of its four games, getting outscored 11-9 in the process.
Things get a bit tougher for the Swiss on Friday when they battle the gold-medal favorites, who didn’t need much time to find chemistry in their opening win.
USA is once again a big favorite against a European country on Friday afternoon.
Let’s take a look at the odds and my prediction for Italy vs. USA in Men’s Olympic Hockey Group B on Friday, Feb. 13.
Odds via BetMGM Sportsbook
Puck Line
Moneyline
Total
It might sound crazy, but fading USA might be the way to go in this one. They only topped out at 5 goals in each of their four preliminary matches. Granted, those were teams with established women’s hockey teams as opposed to Italy, but also, there’s no sense in embarrassing the host country in the quarterfinals.
For Italy, they allowed more than two goals just once, falling 6-1 to Sweden in their second game. They also beat France 4-1 and Japan 3-2 before losing 2-1 to Germany in their final preliminary matchup.
In the 2022 Olympics, USA did have one win by more than seven goals, beating Switzerland 8-0 in the preliminary round. But even in that one, USA scored five in the first period and then slowed down with two in the second and one in the third.
I’d have to take Italy +6.5 (+105) or +7.5 (-160) in this one.
Pick: Italy +6.5 (+105)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Ryan is a sports betting writer at Sports Illustrated. He has experience working for NHL.com, NBC Sports, Covers, and more throughout his decade in the industry. As a Philadelphia native, he understands the passion and pain that come with being a sports fan.
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