Canada vs. China Qualification Round Prediction: 2022 Olympic Men’s Hockey Odds
In a quirky twist of fate, Canada will face China for the second consecutive time when the two teams meet in the qualification round of the 2022 Beijing Olympic men’s hockey tournament on Tuesday at 8:10 a.m. EST. Team Canada and Team China finished their respective preliminary rounds against each other on Sunday, with the Canadians coming out on top 5-0. The winner will likely face Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Canada is a heavy favourite to win on the Olympic odds.
Canada vs. China Olympic Odds and Betting
After the preliminary round, the tournament odds now see Canada as the third-favourite to win gold at +451. China remains last at +50000.
Canada finished the preliminary round 2-1-0, with wins over Germany and China and a loss against the United States. They placed second in Group A and fifth overall, but did not automatically advance to the quarterfinals because they were not the top ranked second-place team. With 12 goals scored and five given up, they have the fourth-best scoring efficiency in the tournament. Canada has a perfect 100 per cent success rate on nine penalty kills. They’re the only team in the tournament that has not given up a power-play goal.
China finished at the bottom of Group A with an 0-3-0 record. They, along with Latvia, were the only winless teams in the preliminary round. China finished the preliminary round last in scoring efficiency, scoring two goals and allowing 16. On special teams they were 11th in power play percentage (7.1 per cent) and eighth in penalty kill (72.7).
Team Canada
Canada mixed things up in net against the Chinese in the preliminary round. Matt Tomkins got the nod over Edward Pasquale, who had started the first two games. Devon Levi suited up for the first time in the tournament as a backup. Tomkins look good, putting up a 26-save shutout in his Olympic debut. Kent Johnson and Eric O’Dell each finished the game with a goal and an assist. Ben Street, Adam Tambellini and Corban Knight also scored, while Josh Ho-Sang and Tyler Wotherspoon each added two assists. Canada outshot China 44-26.
Johnson and O’Dell are tied for the team lead in points with four apiece. It’s been a very balanced scoring output for Canada, as Knight and Street are the only players with two goals. Seventeen of the 20 skaters who have played a game have recorded a point. Captain Eric Staal had picked up two assists and no goals. Tomkins, who plays in Sweden’s top league, is expected to get the start again against China.
Team China
China didn’t look completely out of their element against Canada and outside of an 8-0 loss to the United States, they have looked better than anticipated through three games. The host country is icing a team with 18 North American-born players, including 12 Canadians. Coquitlam, B.C. native Paris O’Brien started in net for China against Canada. O’Brien stopped 39 shots, but will likely vacate the crease for Jeremy Smith. Smith made 35 saves against Germany and is a major reason why China was able to keep the score to a 3-2 game. Parker Foo and Tyler Wong had the goals against Germany, the first Olympic goals for China ever.
Canada vs. China Score Prediction
Canada 7
China 0