Finland vs Russia: Will the Red Machine be able to win gold at the Olympics?

Russia is the reigning Olympic champions. Will Jukka Jalonen's side be able to take the title away from the Red Machine in a head-to-head encounter? Our prediction: Suomi's representatives will be closer to success this time!

The Finnish team went to Beijing as the favourites, as Jukka Jalonen's men had won gold and silver at the last two world championships, and many of their current players had competed at those tournaments. From their first game at the Olympics, the Blue and Whites began to justify their promises, as they won three straight victories in the group stage with a combined score of 13:6, then crushed the Swiss 5:1 in the quarterfinals, and the day before, they also defeated the Slovaks 2:0. Finland is the only team at the 2022 Olympic Games without a single defeat. In the tournament, the Suomi have managed to develop their character, overcoming staffing difficulties due to disqualifications and injuries, and a strong-willed victory over the Swedes did them good.

The Russian national team won the 2018 Olympics and was a finalist at the 2022 Olympics, which can already be considered an excellent success for domestic ice hockey. While the Red Machine had no severe rivals at the PyeongChang tournament, it was challenging to expect success in Beijing. Still, Alexei Zhamnov's team already has at least a silver medal. Yes, in many ways, the Russian ice squad was lucky because they had secured a place in the quarterfinals where the newcomers expected them to the Olympics, the Danes, and the Swedish team in their current line-up can hardly be considered a top-team. Nevertheless, in the semi-finals, the Russians could endure defensively, making few mistakes.

Finland is historically one of Russia's most uncomfortable opponents. It is enough to recall how Suomi shattered the Russians' dream of winning the Sochi Olympics with a 3:1 victory. Even at the 2019 World Cup, the Red Machine with Andrei Vasilevskiy, Aleksandr Ovechkin and Nikita Kucherov sensationally lost 0:1. Alas, all the top NHL players are gone now, but the White and Blue have Marko Anttila, Mikko Lehtonen, Sakari Manninen and several other hockey players. Unfortunately, Jukka Jalonen's squad is more powerful, stable, and experienced. We suggest betting on Finland's win for 1.85.

If the Pyeongchang Olympics were pleasantly surprised with a high level of performance despite the absence of NHL players in Beijing, the path to success was through the defence. From the start of the tournament, the Russian team played offensively in their match against the Czech Republic. The Finns seemed to have started cheerfully but gradually became pragmatic as well. As a result, we got two semifinals in which a total of four goals were scored in 130 minutes (one puck in an average of 32 minutes and 30 seconds), which is very modest by hockey standards. With this in mind, we suggest betting on a total under 4.5 for 1.6.

The Olympics final is a match where the price of any mistake can be extremely high. Of course, the hockey players are aware of this, so there are almost no fouls in the decisive stages. Only the Slovaks were sent off in the semi-final with the Finns, and then only three times. Looking at the 2018 OI 2018 final statistics, there were only eight penalty minutes in regulation time, and Patrick Raymer's penalty in overtime led to a memorable goal from Kirill Kaprizov. In such a situation, we suggest betting on a total under 12.5 penalty minutes for 1.75.