Bell Centre in Montreal is the venue for the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off as Sweden take on Canada on Wednesday with the game due to begin at 8 PM ET.
Canada are vying for favoritism in the tournament with USA and will be eager to get off to a winning start given that any dropped points could be particularly costly in such a short-format competition.
This opening contest pits a star-studded Canadian offensive group against a Sweden side who are likely to rely on defense for their results.
There is plenty of speed and skill on offer for the Swedes. William Nylander looks to be the main scoring threat, but he is not always the most reliable of players.
Meanwhile, some of the other big names - Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers, Elias Petterson of Vancouver and Elias Lindholm now with Boston, have been underperforming this season.
Compare that with Canada's projected top line of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid and it is clear where the advantage lies.
Reigning Hart Trophy winner MacKinnon is comfortably on course for his third straight 100+ point season, while such achievements are the norm for Oilers captain McDavid.
Crosby is into the veteran stage of his career but the captain is still more than capable of making an impact and his pedigree in international competitions is impeccable, with two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup among his collection.
Mark Stone, Mitch Marner and Sam Reinhart will all expect to find the goal during the tournament while Brad Marchand, Brandon Hagel and Sam Bennett can bring the nasty and are very tricky to play against.
That is an element Sweden could be missing at the tournament, with 20-year-old Anaheim centre Leo Carlsson one of the few who brings size and strength to the Swedish forward group.
On the blue line things are rather better, although captain Victor Hedman is likely to have his hands full on Wednesday.
Erik Karlsson, like his Pittsburgh Penguins team-mate Crosby, has reached veteran status, but won the Norris Trophy as recently as 2023.
Jacob Markstrom was projected to be Sweden's starting goaltender but he will miss the tournament through injury, leaving Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson possibly sharing duties in net.
Both have had solid seasons, but whoever starts on Wednesday is likely to have to be at the top of their game, and that goes for the whole team.
For the Swedes to stand a chance they will all need to be on peak form, and considering a number of the line-up have disappointed in the NHL this season, that looks unlikely.
Take Canada to win by at least two goals.
Sweden's skilled forwards should get their opportunities in the game, and considering Canada's defensive depth and goaltending don't match up to their forward strength on paper, Tre Kronor can help make this a high-scoring game.
Even for a defensive unit as impressive as Sweden can boast, keeping the Canadians quiet looks an impossible task.
This season's three most productive players who are involved in the tournament - MacKinnon, Marner and McDavid - are all on the Canadian roster and their scoring threat goes way beyond that.
Given the potential shortcomings in their own zone, Canada may well opt to play to their strengths and go all out for offense tactically, in a bid to score so many goals it won't matter how many they let in.
If that's the case, the Total quote of 5.5 goals should be surpassed comfortably.
Read more betting picks and predictions for the NHL on site.
Sweden | +205 ML |
Canada | -250 ML |
Puck Line | Canada -1.5 |
Total | O/U 5.5 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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Partner Authors
Feb 06 2025
