2023 World Junior Hockey Championship Semifinal: Canada vs. United States Odds, Prediction

Both teams had different experiences in the quarterfinals on Monday as Canada needed overtime to slip past Slovakia 4-3, while the Americans routed Germany 11-1.

Canada is a slim favourite to win on the IIHF odds, while the total sits at 6.5.

2023 World Junior Hockey Championship Semifinal Betting Odds

Prior to Monday’s quarterfinal, Canada finished the preliminary round second in Group A with wins over Germany, Austria and Sweden and a loss against Czechia.  The U.S. won Group B with victories over Latvia, Switzerland and Finland and a surprise loss against Slovakia.

Despite not facing each other a the last tournament in August, these longtime rivals have still met 10 times at the World Juniors over the last decade.  The United States has a 6-4 edge in wins and a 31-27 edge in goals.  The last time these teams met was in the gold medal game of the 2021 tournament, a 2-0 U.S. victory.

Among the final four teams, Canada has the best odds to win the tournament at -119, while the United States is next at +267.  Canada has won the most gold medals at the World Juniors with 19, while the U.S. has won five times.

Canada is -167 to open the scoring on Wednesday, while the United States is +107 and no regulation goals is a +10,000 long shot.  With the total for the game sitting at 6.5., the Under is favoured at -139 and the Over is +101.

Team Canada

Connor Bedard capped a record breaking night with the overtime winner against Slovakia on Monday, his second goal of the game.  Bedard broke the Canadian record for most career World Junior goals (16), most career points (34), most points in a single World Juniors (21) and most assists in a single World Juniors (13) in the game.  The contest wasn’t as close as the score indicated, with Canada outshooting Slovakia 57-27.  Dylan Guenther and Zack Ostapchuk also scored for Canada, while Thomas Milic made 24 saves in net.  Milic is expected to get the start again on Wednesday.

Canada’s strength this tournament has been their offence.  They’ve scored a tournament-high 33 goals through five games and they boast the best power play, converting on the man-advantage at a 50 per cent rate (13-for-26).  After a surprising 5-2 loss against Czechia to open the tournament, Canada bounced back by outscoring Germany, Austria and Sweden a combined 27-3.

Team United States

The United States’ blowout win over Germany in the quarterfinal saw seven different American goal scorers, while nine players recorded multi-point games.  Logan Cooley led the way with a hat trick and one assist, while Cutter Gauthier and Red Savage each found the back of the net twice.  Jimmy Snuggerud, Dylan Duke, Jackson Blake, and Kenny Connors scored singles.  Ryan Ufko finished with five helpers and Luke Mittelstadt had three.  Trey Augustine played the first two periods in net, stopping all 14 shots faced.  Andrew Oke played the third period and allowed one goal on eight shots.

Cooley and Snuggerud have driven the offence for the Americans.  Cooley is second to Bedard in tournament scoring with 11 points (5G, 6A) and Snuggerud is third with 10 (5G, 5A).  The U.S. has the second-highest shooting percentage in the tournament at 15.38 per cent.  They have the third-best power play at 37.5 per cent (6-for-16).

Canada vs. United States WJC Semifinal Score Prediction

Canada 3, United States 2