Expert Women’s Olympic Hockey Picks: Canada vs USA Best Bets for Feb 19

Expert women’s Olympic hockey picks & best bets for Canada vs USA gold medal game: insider predictions, prop picks & top odds for Feb 19.

February 18, 2026

Expert Women’s Olympic Hockey Picks: Canada vs USA Best Bets for Feb 19

By:

Daniel Dobish

February 18, 2026

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Women's Olympic Best Bets & Picks: Gold Medal Game - Canada vs USA – Expert Game Preview

The 2026 Winter Olympics from Milano Cortina roll on, and the women's hockey tournament wraps up at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy on Thursday. Puck drop is at 1:10 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed or streamed on USA Network and Peacock.

It was fully expected that we'd get this gold medal matchup, but things perhaps didn't go according to plan during the preliminary round, quarterfinals and semifinals.

Women's hockey was introduced in 1998 during the Nagano games, and that's when Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero helped Team USA to a victory over Jennifer Botterill, Hayley Wickenheiser and Team Canada to capture gold.

In 2002, these teams met on American soil in Salt Lake City, and Canada returned the favor, as Botterill, Caroline Ouellette and Wickenheiser spoiled the repeat bid of Natalie Darwitz, Granato, Ruggiero and Krissy Wendell.

In the 2006 Torino games, the United States didn't qualify for the gold medal game, as it was Canada topping Sweden for all the marbles.

In 2010, Team USA returned to the gold medal game, as Kendall Coyne and Hilary Knight made their Olympics debuts. However, Botterill, Jayna Hefford, Ouellette, Kim St-Pierre and Wickenheiser were golden once more. That was Marie-Philip Poulin's first Olympics as well.

At the Sochi games in 2014, Canada once again topped Team USA, as Hefford, Ouellette, Poulin and Wickenheiser did it again, while Laura Fortino and Natalie Spooner debuted.

In 2018 at Pyeongchang, Team USA won an epic matchup with Canada, as Coyne, Brianna Decker, Knight and Amanda Kessel won gold, spoiling the debut of Sarah Nurse, as Ann-Renee Desbiens, Fortino, Jocelyne Larocque, Poulin, Spooner and Blayre Turnbull settled for silver.

Finally, in Beijing in 2022, you guessed it, Canada and the United States met, and it was Canada getting revenge again.

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Canada vs Team USA Match Preview: Women's Olympic Hockey Best Bets

Knight will tie Hefford and Wickenheiser for the most Olympic medals with five, as she has a gold and three silvers. The two Canadians have three golds and a silver. Canadian captain Poulin will also secure her fifth medal, win or lose.

Canada opened this tournament with a 4-0 blowout of Switzerland on Feb. 7 before taking care of Czechia 5-1 in the second preliminary round game. However, when these teams met on Feb. 10, it was Team USA thumping Canada 5-0.

Hannah Bilka scored a pair of goals, while finishing with a plus-2 rating, while Abbey Murphy was good for three assists. Kirsten Simms also scored a goal, while Laila Edwards became the first African American woman to score an Olympic goal for Team USA. She is from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the same hometown as former NFL center Jason Kelce, and Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce. Caroline Harvey also notched a goal with three points, while Aerin Frankel stopped each of the 20 shots she was tasked with.

On the flip side, Desbiens stopped just 22 of 27 shots, giving way to Emerance Maschmeyer, who stopped all six of her shots. Daryl Watts took a minus-3, and Sarah Fillier, Nurse, Erin Ambrose and Larocque each had a minus-2.

Does that mean Canada is having a down season, and we can expect a rout in the gold medal game? Don't count on it. To be the champ, you have to beat the champ, and Canada isn't likely to go quietly into the night. However, just the same, Canada really struggled with Switzerland in the semifinals. While the shots on goal total was very lopsided, Canada managed just a pair of goals in the 2-1 win, and Switzerland had a shot to tie with an extra attacker, spoiled only by a penalty, which leveled the sides at five apiece late.

Based on the dominant play of the United States in this tournament, and the shaky play at times from Canada, we have to go Team USA here, as Knight secures her second-ever gold medal. This rivalry has emerged as one of the best in all of hockey. However, betting Team USA straight up will cost you nearly five times your return. So, only bet that in conjunction with the total. If you are to bet Team USA with a standalone bet, lay the goal and a half, which is still quite expensive at -176.

We'll also go low on the total, as Frankel and Desbiens should give up very few goals, and we'll see the pressure of the moment help keep scores down as well.

Team USA (W) -1.5 Goals (-176 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Under 5.5 (-134 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.

Canada vs Team USA: Olympic Women's Prop Picks

Bilka scored a pair of goals against Desbiens and Canada in the first matchup, and she can help you nearly double up with an Anytime Goal (including overtime). She is tied with Sweden's Thea Johansson with the most goals at these Olympics with four, and Bilka also has a total of seven points, tied for third-most in Milano Cortina. That's too hard to pass up.

If you're looking for longer odds, take a flyer on Caroline Harvey. Now, she is good for nine points through six games, leading all scorers, but seven of those points have come via assists, with many to Bilka. However, if Harvey were to score an Anytime Goal (incl. OT), it pays nearly four times your initial wager. It's too expensive to take Harvey for just a single point, at least straight up, but that will be part of our multi-leg parlay.

On the Canadian side, take the captain Poulin to record at least one point. It will cost you more than 1.5 times your potential return, but the line is worth it.