The only two undefeated teams left in women’s Olympic hockey will meet one another in Monday’s semifinal round as the United States and Sweden are set to clash.
The United States dismantled Italy 6-0 in the quarterfinal, outshooting them 45-6. Sweden topped the toughest team it faced so far in Czechia, 2-0.
This game will feature seven of the tournament’s top-10 scorers, with the States’ Caroline Harvey (No. 1 overall with nine points) and Sweden’s Hanna Olsson (No. 3 overall with seven points) leading their respective clubs.
Italy was — as expected — child’s play for the Stars and Stripes, even despite many post-whistle scrums that set a “spicy” undertone to the contest.
Women’s hockey: United States vs. Sweden odds, prediction
It’s clear that the United States is a notch or two above the field, posting a plus-25 goal differential through five games. They are playing with an airtight structure, dominating puck possession, and using their experience to their advantage.
Special teams is also knocking it out of the park; the Americans are 4-for-19 on the power play and perfect on the penalty kill in the eight times they’ve been sent to the sin bin.
U.S. goaltender Aerin Frankel has allowed one goal on the 45 shots she’s faced.
Sweden owns a plus-19 differential and faced the lowly likes of Germany, Italy, France, and Japan in preliminary play.
Betting on the NHL?
Although Frankel has been essentially flawless with the light workload she’s been served, Ebba Svensson Traff of Sweden has been the tournament’s most influential netminder. Svensson Traff heads into Monday’s puck drop having denied 82 of 84 shots for a scintillating 0.50 GAA. She shut out the Czechs despite Sweden being outshot 29-23.
The Swedes’ special teams have also carried them; Olsson’s power-play strike was the difference against Czechia, raising the team’s efficiency to 31.6 percent, second behind Canada. Though it’s their penalty kill that can give the States power play a run, having allowed only one goal on 10 disadvantages.
The Americans are extremely favored as Sweden is priced as 10/1 underdogs. The goals could take some work, though, as Sweden is a defensively sound team that tends to hang around.
THE PLAY: Under 6.5 (-104, FanDuel)
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.
