Canada favored over U.S. in Olympic gold-medal game

Canada is a slight favorite over the United States in Sunday's gold-medal game, sitting at -125 at theScore Bet to win its third straight gold medal in Olympics that have featured NHL players.

Canada's odds imply a winning probability of 55.6%, making this game nearly a coin flip.

Connor McDavid and Co. snuck past Finland in Friday's first semifinal, while the Americans took care of Slovakia with ease. The rivals are now set for a gold-medal rematch from the 2010 Winter Games as well as a repeat of last year's 4 Nations Face-Off finale, both of which Canada won.

🥇 See all of the lines available for Canada-USA on theScore Bet here

Sidney Crosby's status for Sunday remains in doubt, but Canada's depth pieces have come up clutch with timely goals during the team's run. McDavid, who's captained Canada in Crosby's absence, leads the tournament with 13 points in five games and is the heavy favorite to win tournament MVP (-240).

Macklin Celebrini's goal-scoring streak ended against Finland, but the 19-year-old still leads the tournament with five tallies. Nathan MacKinnon, meanwhile, has scored in back-to-back games, including the game-winner Friday with 35 seconds remaining.

Canada gets a lot of attention for its firepower up front, but the United States has no shortage of scoring options. Captain Auston Matthews leads Team USA in goals with three. The Americans have also received contributions from Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson, Brock Nelson, and Quinn Hughes, who's second on the team in points and holds the second-best odds to earn tournament MVP.

Tournament MVP odds

🏒 Click here for a full list of tournament MVP odds on theScore Bet

However, the United States' greatest advantage will be between the pipes. Connor Hellebuyck was sensational in the quarterfinals against Sweden and largely stymied Slovakia in the semis. The back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner could easily steal the gold medal for Team USA with another stellar effort.

Regardless of how the gold-medal game plays out, fans who have waited 12 years to see best-on-best Olympic hockey will be in for a treat.

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