Canada and Switzerland will face-off in the Olympic women’s hockey semi-finals Monday, after Switzerland snuck by Finland 1-0 thanks largely to a 40-save shutout from goaltender Andrea Brandlii. Canada won the preliminary round meeting between these sides, 4-0, and is priced at -4000 to win Monday’s matchup in regulation, with a win presumably setting up a gold medal game versus the United States.
In this article, I’ll outline my best bet for this exciting Olympic hockey matchup, as well as relevant betting notes for both teams.
Canada vs. Switzerland Best Bet: Switzerland +4.5/Under 6.5 Goals Parlay +130
Canada/Switzerland parlay
Canada won the previous game between these sides easily, and the shot count of 55 to 6 would certainly indicate that was no surprise whatsoever. While that absurd shot total and the fact that Canada entirely dominated possession is a little scary for this bet, Canada’s offensive performance was arguably much less impressive than the shot differential suggested, particularly at even strength.
Canada scored three power-play goals in the game, two of which were on broken plays. At even strength they still looked fairly flat off of the rush and in transition, and the vast majority of Canada’s chances were not entirely threatening. Switzerland will once again attempt to prevent things from truly opening up in this matchup, and simply try to pack bodies into “home-plate” and offer stellar goaltender Andrea Brandlii a chance to steal the game.
It’s hard to imagine Switzerland getting enough chances and/or offensive zone time to contribute much to the total, but if they can stay disciplined and receive strong play in goal, they should be capable of not losing by a greater amount than we saw in the previous matchup.
At +130, there looks to be value in targeting a similar scoreline as we saw in the previous matchup between these sides.
Canada vs. Switzerland Odds
| Canada regulation moneyline odds | -4000 |
| Switzerland regulation moneyline odds | +4000 |
| Puck Line odds | Canada -4.5 (-120), Switzerland +4.5 (+100) |
| Game total | Over 6.5 goals (+130), Under 6.5 (-155) |
Betting Canada
Canada responded to its awful loss versus the United States fairly convincingly, earning a 5-0 win over Finland and a 5-1 win over Germany. With that said, those results were to be expected given the gigantic dropoff in level of competition. Based off of betting odds, Canada actually won the two games by roughly the margin that was expected, as they were favoured to win by 4.5 goals versus Finland, and 5.5 goals versus Germany.
My overlying point is that since those results don’t necessarily discredit the concerns for head coach Troy Ryan’s side. The offensive play from a number of skaters, such as Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull, and Laura Stacey has been a disappointment. The overall process has not looked entirely convincing, and it feels a little more as though the brighter moments have simply come from Canada overmatching the weaker teams so greatly, as opposed to razor-sharp offensive tactics.
Younger skaters such as Sarah Fillier, Daryl Watts, and Julia Gosling, and Claire Thompson on the back end have looked much more threatening throughout the tournament. There’s a pretty strong argument to be made that Ryan needs to adjust his usage in a potential Gold Medal Game and be willing to reevaluate who deserves the most ice time.
The usage on the blue line seemed more reasonable versus Germany, as Thompson and Kati Tabin received more minutes. If Canada does lose the final, the fact that they did not opt to bring higher-upside defenders such as Chloe Primerano and Mae Batherson will likely be a key talking point.
Though Emerance Maschmeyer got the start versus Germany, Ann-Renee Desbiens is almost logically still viewed as the number one and is expected to get the start. Desbiens bounced back with a 17-save shutout versus Finland after being pulled after two periods versus the USA, and holds a 1.15 GAA and .954 save percentage across 13 appearances in the PWHL this season.
Betting Switzerland
The story for head coach Colin Muller’s side starts and ends with Andrea Brandlii in goal. As Switzerland does offer the third-best women’s professional league, the program has gained ground on nations such as Finland in recent years, but that doesn’t change the fact that Brandlii was the greatest reason for the outcome of Saturday’s quarterfinal.
At five-on-five, Saturday’s matchup was comparable in some regards to Canada’s matchup versus Switzerland. Finland carried the majority of the play, but struggled to force the type of shots needed to best one of the best goaltenders in women’s hockey. Switzerland’s hope will be to win in a similar fashion Monday, in attempting to collapse all five bodies low as much as possible and rely on their excellent goaltender to make saves on pressured shooters and peripheral attempts.
Brandlii is now viewed as a top talent to be selected in the upcoming 2026 PWHL entry draft, having played to a .944 save percentage across 20 appearances in the SDHL this season, and a .944 save percentage at the Olympics.
It’s hard not to take a few penalties when you are rarely in possession and spending plenty of time in the defensive zone, but that will be one of the main areas that Switzerland needs to be better in order to have a chance in this game. Canada was struggling to break through offensively in the previous matchup between these sides, before managing three power play goals to blow the game open.
You can follow all of Nick’s hockey bets on the Action Network App!