The 2026 Winter Olympics continue in Milan, Italy on Sunday. The Group Stage of the men’s hockey tournament has provided some excellent moments thus far and wraps up with today’s schedule prior to the Playoff Qualifiers next on Tuesday. As Group A play winds down, tournament favorites Canada take on France at 10:40 a.m. EST this morning.
Below, we’ll hit a brief preview, prediction and betting pick for Sunday’s Olympic hockey matchup between Canada and France.
Canada vs. France prediction, preview
Unsurprisingly, Team Canada will almost certainly go on to win Group A as the only unbeaten team heading into today’s slate.
Nobody is surprised by this outcome, especially since the Canadians entered the tournament with an embarrassment of riches in regard to roster talent as the favorite to win gold on DraftKings Sportsbook. In their opening contest, they produced a 5-0 drubbing of Czechia that saw goals from five separate players and a 36-26 advantage on SOG in the shutout. In the second matchup, this one against Switzerland, Canada emerged with a 5-1 victory as again, five different skaters netted a goal and the team outshot its opponent 39-25. That brings the total shot disparity to 75-51 for Team Canada, which sees an incredible blend of speed and skill in its lines.
As things stand, Connor McDavid (EDM) is tied for the tournament lead with six points (1G/5A), followed by Nathan MacKinnon (COL) with four points (2G/2A). It’s not shocking that the two best players in the world are dominating on the world stage, and having teammates like Sidney Crosby (PIT), Macklin Celebrini (SJS) and more moving the puck certainly explains the two blowout wins. The blue line has played quite well with Cale Makar (COL) on the top pairing, and Thomas Harley (DAL) has popped on the national team as he did in the past as well. In net, both Jordan Binnington (STL) and Logan Thompson (WAS) have looked excellent between the pipes with two of the three best SV% marks of the tournament.
France, well, is not exactly a hockey power. The team is 0-0-0-2 with a pair of regulation losses so far as it looks to tally its first win of these Winter Games. The task is a tall one, especially given how things have played out thus far. The French dropped their first game to Switzerland 4-0, being outshot 43-27 in that contest. They did muster some scoring to follow it up against Czechia with three goals on just 12 shots, but also dropped the outing 6-3 while allowing 38 shots in the process. Woof.
Do the French have much talent? Alexandre Texier (MON) is the lone current NHLer on the roster and slots in as the 2LW. He’s yet to notch a goal so far, with the three scores coming from a pair by 2C Louis Boudon and one by defensemen Hugo Gallet. 40-year-old former NHLer Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Stephane Da Costa (38 PTS in the KHL) and Dylan Fabre (19 PTS in Liiga play) anchor the top forward grouping. Frankly, they don’t stack up to Canada… and that’s putting it politely.
Canada vs. France pick, best bet
Ever seen a puck line of 6.5 goals? The Canadians are favored by such a margin on the puck line and there aren’t even odds on the Moneyline given the matchup. France’s odds of keeping the game within seven goals sit at -135 with a game total of 7.5.
If nothing else, at least these teams will be able to understand the chirps that are sure to fly throughout the 60 minutes. It’ll surely be 60 minutes of a beatdown, though, and it would take a catastrophe of unparalleled proportions for Team Canada to fall in this one. While a puck line of 6.5 goals feels patently absurd, Finland just hung 11 goals on Italy yesterday, so anything is possible. There are plus odds on that line, so go crazy. If you’re wary of such a wide margin though, a shoutout bet in favor of Canada comes in at -125 odds. There’s just no way this one is even close.
