Canada, Finland Close Out Sochi Group Stages

A hero against Austria, Jeff Carter will hope to help Canada to a third win on Sunday.

The Group stages of the Olympic ice hockey tournament will come to a close Sunday with a headline matchup between Canada and Finland.

Face-off at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia, is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 p.m. local).

Both Canada (2-0-0, 6pts) and Finland (2-0-0, 6pts) arrive in the group stage finale unbeaten.

The winner will join Sweden in the quarterfinals, while the loser will face a potential playoff game on Tuesday.

There is, however, a chance both sides will advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday.

The tiebreaker to decide which group runner up advances to the quarterfinals is goal difference. At the time of publication, both Canada (+8) and Finland (+9) have a far superior goal difference to Russia (+2), the other team in contention for a bye to the quarterfinals.

After Saturday’s heart wrenching shootout loss to the United States, Russia (1-0-1, 4pts) meets Slovakia (0-2-0, 0pts) earlier in the day (7:30 a.m. ET), and will be looking to illuminate the red light repeatedly. Slovakia has conceded 10 goals in its opening two games, which means the Russians could be sitting pretty by the time the Canadians and Finns take to the ice.

If Russia wins, it would take an overtime or shootout loss for the losing side in Sunday’s finale to advance to the quarterfinals without the need to appear in the playoffs.

The United States (2-0-0, 5pts) could also be drawn into the picture if the side loses in overtime or a shootout to Slovenia (1-1-0, 3pts) in Sunday’s other 7:30 face-off.

Slovenia upset Slovakia in one of three underdog wins on Saturday.

Canada’s quest for a second straight gold medal began with a spluttering 3-1 win over Norway on Wednesday, before the team found it rhythm with a 6-0 thrashing of Austria the following day.

Finland earned an 8-4 victory over Austria to start its campaign on Wednesday, before trouncing Norway 6-1 on Saturday. With 14 goals already tallied, can the Finns now breach what has been the best defense in the tournament so far?

Olympic hockey odds for 02/16/2014

Online sportsbook Bovada has Canada (-400) comfortably favored to win over Finland (+300) on the moneyline.

The Canadians have enjoyed a full day of rest heading into this one, which could prove to be the difference in this one.

The primary spread is set at 1.5 with Canada (-130) expected to cover.

The Canadians have won by an average of four goals so far this tournament, so bettors may fancy their chances with the alternate lines.

At Bovada, you can bet on spreads of 2.5 and 3.5. Both have Finland favored to cover at those numbers.

Bovada is also offering a ton of player props on Sunday’s games.

Sidney Crosby, still goalless in the competition, is favored to score first at 13/2. Chris Kunitz (17/2), Rick Nash (9/1), Ryan Getzlaf (9/1), and Corey Perry (19-2) round out the top five.

Jeff Carter, who followed up a miserable opening game with hat trick against Austria, is 10/1 to score first.

Finland’s best goal-scoring prospect, at least in the eyes of the bookmakers, is Teemu Selanne at 12/1.