Canada vs. Norway: 2024 IIHF World Championship Odds, Prediction

Jordan Ramsay
Last Updated: May 15, 2024

The Canadians blew a 6-1 third period lead against Latvia on Tuesday, but managed to salvage the game with a 7-6 overtime victory. Up next is Norway, who are coming off a 2-0 win against Denmark.

Puck drop is set for 2:20 p.m. ET at Prague Arena, with Canada opening as a 4.0-goal favourite on the World Championship odds and the total sitting at 6.5.

Canada vs. Norway World Championship Odds

Historically, Canada tends to treat this tournament as a working vacation, which may explain some less than dominant performances through three games. The Canadians opened with a 4-2 victory against Great Britain and followed that up with a 5-1 win over Denmark before the wild Latvian game. The first few games are when you can really score big on upsets. If you had bet Canada and Latvia to tie at the end of regulation, you could have scored a massive payout at +1550 odds.

Norway has already played four games and even though they only have one win to show for it, they’ve held their own in the losses. The Norwegians opened with a 5-2 loss against Switzerland then fell 6-3 to Czechia and 4-1 to Finland before their win against Denmark. Those losses came against three tough opponents and Canada would be wise not to take Norway lightly.

After opening as the tournament favourite, Canada now sports the second-shortest odds at +300, while Denmark is a massive +30,000 underdog. Sweden, the only remaining perfect team in regulation, is the new tournament favourite at +250. Because they are in different groups, Canada wouldn’t face Sweden until the knockout stage. If you want to play it a little safer, you could take Canada to advance to the final at +110.

Team Canada

It was nearly disaster for the Canadians against Latvia on Tuesday. Leading 6-1 after two periods, Canada was outscored 5-0 in the third period. Fortunately, captain John Tavares ended the game 15 seconds into overtime, but it cost Canada a point in the standings. Dylan Cozens, Kaiden Guhle, Bowen Byram, Jared McCann, Connor Bedard and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored in the win. Bedard is second in tournament scoring with six points and he leads in goals with five.

It will be interesting to see what Canada does in net going forward. Jordan Binnington has the most distinguished resume of the three goalies on the roster, but he struggled heavily against Latvia. Binnington allowed six goals on 21 shots and he was torched for five goals on just nine shots in the third period. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Canada give Joel Hofer another look. Hofer wasn’t tested much in the tournament-opener, making 13 saves on 15 shots. Nico Daws could also get a shot, but that seems unlikely.

Team Norway

No one is expecting Norway to win this tournament, but Tuesday’s win over Denmark was still significant in that it could save them from relegation. It was also a rivalry win and the Norwegians’ first win against Denmark at the World Championships in the last three meetings between the teams. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard broke the scoreless tie midway through the second period and Eirik Salsten scored the insurance goal with 11 seconds left in the game.

One thing for Canada to watch out for would be the top line of Minnesota Wild winger Mats Zuccarello, captain Patrick Thoresen and 18-year-old Brandsegg-Nygard. Zuccarello is the all-time Norweigian points leader in NHL history, Thoresen is a former NHLer who played over 100 games with the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers, and Brandsegg-Nygard is a projected first-round pick at the 2024 NHL draft.