Russia vs. Norway: Hockey Live-Stream Schedule, Odds
The Olympic Athletes from Russia entered the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics as the gold-medal favorite, but it took them a bit to flex their muscle in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
After losing their opening game in pool play to Slovakia, the Russians dominated Slovenia and the United States to earn the third seed in the elimination round.
Wednesday's quarterfinal showdown with Norway should be a straightforward victory for the Russians, as they have the medal round in focus.
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However, the tournament has experienced its share of unexpected results, and Norway enters the contest with a good amount of confidence following an overtime victory over Slovenia.
The job seems to be easy for the Russians, but they can't take their opponent lightly following its big victory.
Date: Wednesday, February 21
Time: 2:40 a.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com
Odds to win tournament (per Oddsshark): Olympic Athletes from Russia (+225, bet $100 to win $225), Norway (+10,000)
Russians Ready to Assert Dominance
On paper, the Russians have the most talented roster of the 12 teams in the Olympic tournament.
They started to show how dominant they can be at the end of pool play with an 8-2 win over Slovenia and a 4-0 victory against the United States.
In their last pool-play triumph, Ilya Kovalchuk and Nikolai Prokhorkin scored two goals each for the squad littered with NHL and KHL experience.
The Russians were also efficient in front of the net against the Americans, as they scored their four goals on 26 shots.
A similar efficiency was shown in the blowout win over Slovenia, as eight goals were tallied on 34 shots, including three goals on six attempts from Kirill Kaprizov.
If there is a concern about the Russians it's that they conceded 29 shots to the United States, a number that has to be lower in order for them to stay in control.
Wednesday's contest with Norway should serve as a practice exercise of sorts since the Russians have a superior roster.
If they don't knock off the Norwegians by four or five goals, it will be seen as a shock and would open up doubts about the gold-medal hopes of the Russians.
Look for Kovalchuk to once again be the center of the Russian attack after he scored two goals in each of his last two contests. Kaprizov and Pavel Datsyuk should also be heavily involved among others.
If Kovalchuk, the former NHL star, and his teammates are dominant in attack, a spot in the semifinals against either the Czech Republic or the United States should be secured before the third period.
Norway Searching for Historic Upset
Before its overtime triumph over Slovenia in the playoff round, Norway had one point from three pool-play games.
Norway came alive in the final 20 minutes of regulation Tuesday and forced overtime against sixth-seeded Slovenia by way of Tommy Kristiansen's third-period goal.
With three minutes and six seconds gone in overtime, Alexander Bonsaksen slotted home the game-winning goal to earn Norway's first win at the Olympics since 1994.
The reward for Norway's success in the playoff round is the unenviable task of trying to compete with the Russians.
Against two of the powers of men's ice hockey in Group C, Norway lost by a combined score of 9-1 to Sweden and Finland.
If Norway just stays competitive for more than 20 minutes, it will come as a surprise given its talent level.
Expect the underdogs to play with a ton of energy in the first period as they remain on the high from Tuesday's victory, but reality should set in as the game goes on, as the potential of an historic upset dwindles.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Olympic.org.
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