Nothing is inevitable in sports, but the United States and Canada have a way of finding one another on the international hockey stage.
The Winter Olympics will feature the neighboring nations’ women’s teams duking for gold for the seventh time in history on Thursday.
The Americans have hopscotched their way into the gold medal game. Not only did they go undefeated in the group stage for the first time since the 2010 Games, they outscored their opposition 20-1.
Then they lit up Italy and Sweden in the knockout rounds for a combined score of 11-0. That leaves American goalie Frankel Aerin with numbers you have to rub your eyes to believe: a 0.25 GAA and a 98.5 save percentage.
Canada has endured more adversity in its course to the Olympic finale. They lost their captain, Marie Philip-Poulin, for most of pool play to a lower-body injury. That included their first matchup against the Americans, in which they were shelled 5-0.
Canada still got out of preliminary play with a plus-8 goal differential. A 5-1 victory over Germany and a 2-1 nailbiter over Switzerland landed them a revenge opportunity against the United States.
The Canadians bring back more mojo than they had against the Americans nine days ago.
Poulin returned in the knockout rounds and became the all-time leading scorer in Olympic women’s hockey history, tallying her 19th in Monday’s semifinal game against the Swiss.
Through six games, no team has been more efficient on the power play than Canada; they’ve found the scoresheet in seven of 19 opportunities. But they still went 0-for-2 against the Americans, who have been perfect on the penalty kill throughout the Games.
For as much offense as the Americans were able to generate against Canada, the shot count was in no way out of the ordinary, favoring them 33-20.
Caroline Harvey, often described as the “Cale Makar” of the women’s game, has undoubtedly delivered MVP contributions to the United States on the backend. The exceptional mix of her two-way play, hockey IQ and physicality has made her the Games’ most frustrating obstacle.
The States have what some pundits are calling the greatest team ever to compete in the Olympics. If there is any team that will compete with them, it’s Canada, who has a 7-4 all-time record against the Americans in the Games.
Betting on the NHL?
The market has the goal total set at 5.5 between the familiar foes. It’s easy to be seduced by the Americans’ offensive upside: Per DraftKings, 63 percent of bettors are taking the Over.
I’m going Under, because If there’s anyone who is going to give the Americans a run, it’s the championship pedigree of Canada — and that should make this a tough competition.
THE PLAY: Under 5.5 (-135, DraftKings)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.