The 2026 Winter Olympics continue in Milan, Italy on Saturday. The Group Stage of the men’s hockey tournament is in full swing and has provided some excellent moments thus far, and on Saturday, the United States’ powerhouse squad gets a date with Denmark. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. EST.
Below, we’ll hit a brief preview, prediction and betting pick for Saturday’s Olympic hockey matchup between Denmark and the United States.
Denmark vs. United States prediction, preview
In Group C, the United States and Denmark have each played one game thus far.
Denmark opened its tournament run with a 3-1 loss to Germany, which has a good mix of NHL talent and players from its own DEL. The Danes played a fast-paced game with 38 shots on goal but potted just one of those attempts, which came in the opening period off the stick of Oscar Fisker Molgaard of the Seattle Kraken.
Denmark does have a handful of NHL forwards, including Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (TBL) on its first line, backed by Lars Eller (OTT) on the second line with Molgaard on the third. There’s not a single current NHLer on the blue line, but a pair of goalies from the league are in rotation with Frederik Andersen (CAR) and Mads Sogaard (OTT) in the net. However, Andersen has been benched, per coach Mikael Gath. Which of the other two netminders start remains up in the air as of this time.
Looking toward the Americans, well, you know the drill here. The United States has the second-best odds to win the gold medal and outright dominated Latvia in the opening contest. In that 5-1 victory, Brock Nelson scored a pair of second-period goals as Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson and Auston Matthews all found the back of the net as well. The dust settled with a 38-18 SOG disparity in the Americans’ favor as Connor Hellebuyck didn’t face much resistance between the pipes. However, they did give up four penalties and certainly need to play a cleaner game this time around.
The talent on the US side is patently absurd. A top six of Jack Eichel (VGK), the Tkachuk brothers (OTT, FLA), Jake Guentzel (TBL), Matthews (TOR) and Matt Boldy almost rivals that of Canada, and even a player of Jack Hughes’ (NJD) caliber winds up on the fourth line. Quinn Hughes (MIN), Charlie McAvoy (BOS) and Zach Werenski (CBJ) are all on the blue line with Hellebuyck (WPG) behind them. Every player on the roster is from the NHL, so outside of the top four nations in this tournament, few others can truly compete with the Americans.
Denmark vs. United States pick, best bet
To put it simply, this projects as a lopsided matchup. The United States is a 4.5-goal favorite on the puck line with -4000 odds on the Moneyline. Denmark’s odds of an outright upset sit at +1600, while the game total comes in at 6.5 combined goals.
The Danes put forth a solid effort in their first game, but given that they fell short to a Leon Draisaitl-led Germany squad, the situation appears dire. Denmark must put a ton of pucks on the net again to even have a chance against a far superior American side — either that, or score early and park every shift in front of the net. Even that may not work though, especially since Sogaard’s SV% across 31 career NHL starts is a mere .877 and Frederik Dichow is just 24 years old (though he’s at a .912 SV% through 10 starts in the SHL this season).
The United States will almost certainly rout its opponent from the opening puck drop. The Americans simply have far too much talent to fall short, barring an unreal upset. A win by greater than 4.5 goals does feel like a tall task even given the discrepancy in roster quality, so I’m in favor of the safer option with Denmark +4.5.
