NHL
Andrew Rogers
May 16, 2019

Canada vs. France Prediction: 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championship Odds

The first three games of the IIHF World Hockey Championship have been a bit of a mixed bag for the favoured Canadians – but Thursday should bring a little more stability as they tangle with France in Group A action at Steel Arena. Canada has an uninspiring loss to Finland, a rout of Great Britain and a stunning last-second triumph over host Slovakia on its resume so far, and can bolster its showing with a convincing win over the winless French.

2019 IIHF World Hockey Championship Betting

Canada is only a slightly less dominant favourite than it was vs. a Great Britain side it crushed 8-0 behind a 56-12 shots advantage. Of course, there are other wagers you can make if you’re looking for a better return on investment; taking the Canadians to win this one in regulation will pay out at -5952 – okay, so it isn’t that much better than the outright win – while Canada -4.5 is worth -134; taking the French side +4.5 will net you -103.

Team Canada

That Canada-Slovakia game was one of the most entertaining affairs of the entire World Hockey Championship, and nearly saw the hosts at least force overtime despite squandering a pair of two-goal leads earlier in the contest. But while Matus Sukel gave fans plenty to cheer about with the tying goal at 11:45 of the third period, hearts were broken thanks to Mark Stone’s tally with one second remaining in Canada’s 6-5 victory.

But while the Canadians were happy to come away with three points, the victory revealed flaws they’ll need to work on if they hope to win their first World Hockey Championship title since 2016. Canada has surrendered eight goals in two games against teams not named Great Britain, and No. 1 netminder Matt Murray (3.53 goals-against average, .877 save percentage) has struggled mightily, which could open up more playing time for Carter Hart.

Team France

The French would love to find a way to make this one interesting, but might struggle to get that done. France opened the tournament with a spirited 5-4 overtime loss to Denmark but has been overmatched in two games since, dropping a 7-1 decision to the United States before falling 4-1 against Germany. The offence has produced just six total goals through three games and isn’t generating many chances, producing an average of 25.6 shots on goal in that span.

A lack of top-end talent is definitely an issue here, with only one player on the French roster having played an NHL game this past season: centre Alexandre Texier, who scored one goal in two games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But while the majority of players on this team toil in the top French league, there’s plenty of NHL experience behind the bench; head coach Philippe Bozon recorded 41 points in 144 career games with the St. Louis Blues in the early-1990s.