Face-off: 1020 BST, 15/05/2022
Arena: Helsinki Ice Hall
Canada came through their World Championship opener safely enough and should enjoy an easy victory versus Italy in the second round of Group A fixtures.
The holders cruised to a 7-1 success when these teams met at this stage last year and we fear this contest could be even more one-sided.
Let’s take 1.9 for the margin of victory to be greater than 6.5 goals in our Italy vs Canada predictions.
Italy Odds
Italy are playing in the top tier for the third straight tournament and were far from disgraced when going down 5-2 to Switzerland first up.
The Azzurri trailed 4-0 after two periods but plugged on gamely to outscore their opponents in the third.
British Columbia-born Alex Petan said: “We knew this was going to be a challenge for us.
“There were a couple of breakdowns we can work on and learn from our mistakes.
“But overall, I thought we played pretty well. It’s always nice to put in a couple goals.”
It has to be noted, though, that goalie Andreas Bernard was instrumental in keeping it that close, making 42 saves.
Italy were run ragged early on and Canada are also sure to apply plenty of pressure in the opening stanza.
Looking at the Italy vs Canada odds, one price which stands out is 2.05 for the Azzurri to have the most two or five-minute penalties in P1.
Canada Odds
Canada had to recover from a nightmare start 12 months ago but were never in danger of suffering the same fate against Germany this time.
Cole Sillinger opened the scoring at 08:06 and Pierre-Luc Dubois doubled the advantage late on in the first period.
Germany pulled one back but then goals from Dubois, Kent Johnson and Noah Gregor put the result beyond doubt.
Canada were made to pay for some third-period penalties by conceding twice, but a 5-3 triumph represents a solid start.
“Overall, we had a very good game,” said captain Thomas Chabot. “It was the first tournament game for everyone.”
Head coach Claude Julien will probably want a more clinical performance here, though.
We like 4.6 for the favourites to be 3-0 ahead after the first period in our Italy vs Canada betting tips.
Additional stats
Last results:
Switzerland 5-2 ITALY
Germany 3-5 CANADA
Head-to-head: Italy 1-7 Canada, Canada 6-1 Italy, Canada 5-1 Italy
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