Team USA ahead of group victory

The US-Americans are greeting us from the top of the table! After two days of play, “Team USA” is at the top of the high-calibre Group A, even without NHL stars, and already has one leg in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Olympic ice hockey tournament. Sunday afternoon, the group final is now up against the German national ice hockey team.

The DHB team lost the group opener against Canada, but they made up for it on Saturday against the Chinese hosts of the Winter Olympics. The match against the Chinese was a real thriller, with the German national team only narrowly beating the Olympic host 3:2.

While the USA wants to secure the group victory in the last group match, the DHB team is only concerned with preserving its chance of direct entry into the quarter-finals in the best possible scenario – i.e. support from the Chinese against Canada. In view of the recent group results, however, that scenario tends to be ruled out.

The bookmakers see USA vs. Germany Ice Hockey as favourites according to betting odds anyway. A bet on “Team USA” is quite obvious, especially since the leader of Group A has already mastered the test of strength with the Canadians with 4:2.

USA – Statistics & current form

USA is on course for the quarter-finals of the 2022 Olympics. After the show of power on the first day of play, in which the USA rolled over the Chinese 8-0, “Team USA” also ensured a clear balance of power on the second day of play, beating Canada, the IIHF’s world number one, 4-2.

The mixture of seasoned professional players, who also played in the NHL at times, and up-and-coming college players has made a positive impression so far. In particular, the offensive has been brilliant at the current Olympic tournament, with “Team USA” already scoring twelve goals in two group games.

College player Sean Farrell has played a major role in this. The 20-year-old has already recorded six scoring points and is thus the most dangerous offensive player in the current 2022 Olympics. It is quite possible that Farrell will also underline his Olympic form in the group final against the German national hockey team.

Will USA let the group stage slip away?

The U.S. hasn’t won the gold medal since the 1980 Winter Olympics. The best result since then was the silver medal at the 2010 Olympics, where “Team USA” failed to beat their neighbours from Canada in the final.

At the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018, the USA was eliminated in the quarter-finals. This time, the Americans have a realistic chance of winning the gold medal even without NHL stars, especially as all hockey nations have to do without key players at the current Olympic tournament. The USA, on the other hand, has a healthy mix of college players and seasoned pros from Europe.

Although national coach David Quinn has plenty of room for rotation in the last group match, it is obvious that “Team USA” will again approach the match against the DHB team with as many players as possible. If you want to bet on the USA vs. Germany ice hockey, you can get betting odds of up to 1.52 on a successful outcome.

Germany – Statistics & current form

The team of national coach Toni Söderholm can breathe a sigh of relief – at least for the time being. After all, there was the first victory for the DHB team on the second matchday of the current Olympic ice hockey tournament. Germany beat the hosts from China 3:2 in a hard-fought match and almost lost the victory.

In the meantime, the DHB team was leading 3:0. In the course of the match, however, China reduced the score to 3:2 and had the chance to score the equaliser against Söderholm’s team.

Nevertheless, after the poor performance against the Olympic host, we think it is more than daring to make a prediction on the DHB team on the last matchday in USA vs. Especially since Germany has not won any of the last five international matches against the USA since November 2017.

Continue bankrupt streak against Team USA?

The last time the DHB team met the USA was at the 2021 World Cup. At that time, there was a 0:2 defeat in the group phase, and the two teams also met in the bronze medal match. Söderholm & Co. went down 1:6 and were really shown up by the offensively strong US-Americans.

Although the German national team started the 2022 Olympics with a promising squad, Söderholm’s team has so far disappointed beyond measure against Canada and China. A medal win would therefore be a big surprise, especially as top-class opponents such as Russia, Finland & Co. await in the knockout phase.

USA – Germany Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

This is the 71st time the two teams have met. The US currently lead the head-to-head comparison against the DHB team with a record of 47-6-17. In the 70 international matches between the two nations, an average of 6.87 goals per game has been scored so far. It is quite possible that a forecast of more than 5.5 goals per game will also come true this time in USA vs. Germany Ice Hockey.

Team USA in particular has enough offensive power for this. Against Canada, the world number one of the IIHF, the top team from the United States has already scored four goals. By comparison, Germany scored only one goal against Canada. As mentioned before, the USA has won the last five international games against Germany.

USA – Germany tip

U.S.A. is definitely in the tight group of Olympic favourites after the two power performances on the first two matchdays. The college players in particular have made a positive impression so far in the current competition. The star player has been Sean Farrell, who with his six scoring points is the best offensive player in the current Olympic tournament.

In their current form, the USA should not have too much trouble against Germany. In contrast to the Americans, the DHB team has been disappointing so far. The bitter defeat against Canada was followed by a win against China. However, the result against the hosts, who are taking part in an Olympic ice hockey tournament for the first time anyway, should not be overrated.

China, after all, was already rated as a points supplier in the run-up to the Olympic tournament. We expect a one-sided match between “Team USA” and the DHB team, which will be clearly dominated by the leaders from the United States right from the start. The only question is how big the US victory will be.

With a stake of six units, we place our bet on USA vs. Germany Ice Hockey at odds of 1.95 on a victory for the Americans with at least a two-goal lead.