Canada vs USA Opening Odds & Early Prediction – 4 Nations Championship Game

• It’ll be the rematch everyone waited for when Team USA battles Team Canada in the 4 Nations Faceoff Championship Game Thursday at 8 p.m. in Boston.
• The early odds have Team USA as favorites to win the title.
• Check out our quick preview on this rematch between the two hockey superpowers, including a look at the opening lines and a prediction.

International ice hockey bragging rights are at stake when the U.S. squares up with Canada in the 4 Nations Faceoff final Thursday at TD Garden in Boston.

Storylines are plentiful after the red, white, and blue roared past Canada in round-robin play. There was booing of the national anthem, fights in the first nine seconds and then quick, amazing hockey with the US prevailing 3-1 behind a pair of goals by Jake Guentzel.

We’ve got everything you need to know on these two teams, including a look at the preliminary odds plus an early prediction for the biggest hockey game of the year.

Canada vs USA odds

Odds as of Feb. 17 at DraftKings Sportsbook. Be sure to check our best DraftKings promos before making a bet on any international hockey event. 

DRAFTKINGS
SPORTSBOOK

Bet $5 & Get $200 in Bonus Bets + $50 Deposit Bonus

LOCK IN PROMO

SIGNUP PROMO

BET $5
GET $250

GET PROMO

Team USA is 1.5-goal favorites. They covered the spread in the first meeting and also covered the spread in a 6-1 win over Finland in their first round-robin game.

DraftKings has the total at 5.5. Of the first five games in round robin play (not counting US-Finland) four went over that total, but one that didn’t was the Team USA win over Canada.

Play Freebird

The NHL couldn’t have drawn up a better 4 Nations Faceoff than they have had. Emotions have been running high on all sides and now it’s the last two world hockey superpowers one more time.

Team USA overcame a slow start before blowing by Team Canada in the first round. The Tkachuk brothers have become overnight folk heroes in the US, but the true heroes were the defensemen tandem of Brock Faber (Dallas Stars) and Jacob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) who each played over 25 minutes and finished +3 on the night.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves in the win. He had the night off Monday when the US met Sweden in a game that didn’t matter.

Defense wins championships and Team USA’s defense was the difference against Canada.

Seeing Red

Canada outshot the US 26-23 in the first meeting, but did get hammered physically. It’s a stereotype, but it’s true to some degree. The Canadians still play fast, quick-thinking hockey, while the Americans like to mix it up a bit more.

The Canadians took down Finland 5-3 on Monday to clinch a spot in the final. They had a 4-0 lead before the Finns rallied with three goals in the final six minutes. Sidney Crosby had an empty-netter to finally seal it. Nathan MacKinnon had two goals for Canada.

Canada has the offense to score, do they have the defense and goaltending to make it stand up? Jordan Binnington will likely get the start in net for the Canadians.

Canada vs USA Early Prediction

• Canada +1.5 (at DraftKings)

• Under 5.5 (at DraftKings)

Don’t bet with your emotions. Everyone on both sides of the border is convinced their team is going to win and win big. But think about what a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoff looks like. Lots of defense, lots of guys hitting the ice to block shots. That’s the type of game we will probably see.

Team USA will try to impose some physicality, but Canada will be more prepared this time. We still see an American win, but only by a goal. This one has the feel of 1-0, 2-1.