Face-off: 1820 BST, 24/05/2022
Arena: Helsinki Ice Hall
Canada are safely through to the IIHF World Championship quarter-finals but could do with a confidence-boosting win over France.
The holders have suffered back-to-back defeats against Switzerland and Denmark and will be keen to lift morale in their final Group A encounter.
We’re taking 4.25 for a victory by exactly three goals in our Canada vs France predictions.
Canada Odds
Canada began their campaign well enough with four straight wins, although there were some defensive frailties on display.
Switzerland then exploited those issues to prevail 6-3 on Saturday and yesterday’s 3-2 defeat by Denmark was even more surprising.
After losing to the Danes for the first time in 73 years, New Jersey Devils defenceman Ryan Graves said: “I think we were sloppy early.
“We kind of gave them their chances. Our puck play wasn’t disciplined enough and they took advantage of their opportunities.
“We had some good stuff, but we just struggled to capitalise on our scoring chances – and I think they were opportunistic in what they scored on.”
The holders shouldn’t worry too much, though, as they only won three of seven group-stage games before going on to lift the trophy in Latvia last year.
This is a chance to get into playoffs mode, so 9.0 for a 4-1 triumph takes the eye from the Canada vs France odds.
France Odds
France started out with a 4-2 loss to Slovakia before edging out Kazakhstan 2-1, with Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier on target in that win.
Les Bleus then went down 3-2 to Germany but bounced back by shading a 2-1 overtime triumph versus Italy after equalising at 58:54 in regulation.
Losing 3-0 to Denmark was disappointing but France put up a spirited showing against Switzerland on Sunday, leading 2-0 early on before conceding five unanswered goals.
Defender Hugo Gallet admitted: “We stopped forechecking and we started to back up a lot and being stationary in the neutral zone. They beat us with their speed.
“We were sitting back after going up 2-0 and maybe we didn’t expect them to come out that hard in the second.”
Les Bleus may see this as a damage limitation exercise from the outset, so 3.75 for them to lose the first period 1-0 completes our Canada vs France betting tips.
Additional stats
Last results:
CANADA 2-3 Denmark
Switzerland 5-2 FRANCE
Head-to-head: Canada 5-2 France, Canada 3-2 France, Canada 4-0 France, France 3-4 Canada
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