Odds courtesy of TonyBet.
USA vs Slovakia Odds
By no surprise, Team USA is a huge -834 moneyline favorite at hockey betting sportsbooks. Slovakia returns as a +500 underdog. The O/U is set at six goals.
The Slovaks have actually won three of the last five meetings with the Americans, but as we know, NHL stars weren’t involved in any of those matchups.
USA vs Slovakia Analysis
The Americans will always be in Canada’s shadow to a certain extent, but that gap has closed in recent years, and a gold in this tournament would make a serious statement. Team USA beat the Canadians in the 4 Nations group stages last year, but lost to them in the final. The Olympics are a chance at potential redemption, but first, they must get past Slovakia, a team that has looked very solid in Milan. The States haven’t lost in the Olympics, but their toughest task was definitely in the quarters against Sweden.
Sweden has always been an international powerhouse, and they didn’t go down without a fight in the quarterfinals. Dylan Larkin opened the scoring in the second period for Team USA, but the Swedes equalized late in the third period thanks to New York Rangers star Mika Zibanejad. That set the stage for Hughes to play hero in OT, though, ringing a wrist shot off the post and into the net to send the US through to the semifinals. While Slovakia may not be as talented an opponent as Sweden, the States also can’t take them for granted, either.
Slovakia has definitely surprised many people at these Olympics. While they’ve always been a competitive nation in international men’s hockey, no one could’ve predicted the Slovaks would be one of the last four teams standing in Milan. Slovakia made a statement in their opening game with a big win over Finland before beating Italy as well. A loss to Sweden in their final group stage contest wasn’t ideal, but they bounced back against Germany on Wednesday.
The Slovaks took a 4-1 lead into the third period, and they added two more, with the final score ending 6-2. Montreal Canadiens star Juraj Slafkovsky was dealt an injury scare, which meant others had to step up. In fact, he only had one point in the quarters, with five different Slovakia players finding the back of the net. Pavol Regenda led the way with two goals. Beating the USA would truly be a miracle for Slovakia, but anything is possible when you have the momentum this team does right now.
USA vs Slovakia Picks
Slovakia has been a great story at the Olympics, but we saw what happened when they faced a team like Sweden. They allowed five goals and lost by two. One could argue that the US are even a level up in competition from the Swedes. I’ll take the Americans to walk out with a convincing victory.
Pick: USA -2.5 (-129)/TonyBet
