China vs Canada: Canada to defeat the Olympics hosts

China scored their first-ever puck in the Olympics not so long ago. Will Ivano Zanatta's players be able to score their first win of the Games? Prediction: the Maple Leafs won't let them do it!

The Chinese team is a hockey debutant in the Olympics. Never have local hockey players played at such a high level, and they would have never played at the 2022 Olympics had they not been held in China. Now every day is a miracle for Ivano Zanatta's squad. They played at the Olympics for the first time in their history, though suffering a crushing 0-8 defeat at the hands of the USA. Later, the Chinese were able to score their first puck, although in the end they lost to Germany 2-3. The hockey team is waiting for a debut battle with the founders of hockey, and then they will even play in the first round of the playoffs, where their performance will likely end.

Team Canada once again lacks NHL representatives at the Olympics, but even without them they managed to put together a very good team with some seasoned ice hockey players and wildly promising young athletes. All the power of Maple Leafs we saw in the first game in the tournament against Germany, when they led 3-0 by the middle of the first period, and then brought it to a comfortable victory, 5-1. It seemed that in the match against the U.S. Team Canada would be clear favorites, and they were able to open the scoring in the second minute, but then began to make mistakes and eventually suffered an unexpected defeat, 2-4. Despite this setback, the Canadians still have a chance to advance directly to the quarter-final.

There has never been a tournament where the teams of China and Canada faced each other before. The Beijing Olympics will be the first time these teams will ever compete head-to-head.

The Chinese and Canadian teams are not at the same level. The hosts gave a real fight to the German team not so long ago, but there the problem was more with the Germans rather than with the Chinese side. In any case, the Chinese certainly should not count on a favorable outcome in the battle with the Maple Leafs, as the day before Claude Julien's players lost to the Americans and will be tearing and throwing not only because they are Canadians, but also to improve the tournament position. As a result, we are forced to bet on the victory of the Canadian team with a handicap (-4.5) at odds of about 1.75.

The Canadian national team find themselves in an unpleasant tournament position, as it is very likely that they will not take the first place in their group. In order to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics, the Maple Leafs should make a good puck difference & become the best of the teams in the second place. Fortunately, in the final match of the group stage, the Canadians will have to play against the humble team of China who conceded 8 goals in the match against the US. The Olympics hosts will have to concede a lot this time too, and the optimal option to bet on seems to be Canada's Total Over (5.5) for about 1.60.

The class of the teams is very different, but if the hosts of the Olympics are given a chance to score, they will fight to the very end, as it was in the game with Germany. That is why it is important for the Maple Leafs to quickly open the scoring in the upcoming game to ensure that the team from China has no reason to expect success, and then systematically build on their superiority, leading to a smashing score. In such a situation, it is worth looking at a bet on the fact that the first goal in the match will be scored from 1 to 6 minute with odds of about 1.90.