Hockey World Championship 2019 Semifinal Odds, Live Stream and Predictions

The 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship is winding down, with only four teams left standing in Slovakia.

Russia meets Finland in the first of two semifinal games Saturday. Canada and Czech Republic will bring the action to a close later in the day.

Drama was in abundance during the quarterfinals. Finland and Canada needed overtime to advance, and Russia had to fend off the United States in the final minutes to preserve a 4-3 victory.

Considering the four remaining teams all sit in the top five of the IIHF ranking, the margins in the semifinals should be similarly small.

Semifinal Schedule

Russia vs. Finland, Saturday, May 25 at 9:15 a.m. ET

Prediction: Russia

Canada vs. Czech Republic, Saturday, May 25 at 1:15 p.m. ET

Prediction: Canada

Games are available to stream on the World Championship's YouTube page.

Championship Odds

Canada: 31-10

Russia: 57-17

Sweden: 11-2

Czech Republic: 10-1

Per Oddschecker.

Russia steamrolled through the group stage for the most part, winning all seven games with a plus-29 goal margin.

Even when the level of competition rose in the quarterfinals, the Russians were by far the better team against the United States. They outshot the U.S. 43-32 and never trailed. Russia jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and didn't look back.

Finland has been one of the tournament's stingiest teams. It sits third in goals allowed (15) and second in shots conceded (173).

Goal-scoring has been another matter. Even after Thursday's five-goal outburst against Sweden, the Finns are only 10th in scoring (27), which is lowest of the eight quarterfinal teams.

Finland needed Marko Anttila to score with 1:29 left in regulation to force overtime and topple the Swedes. If the team finds itself in another high-scoring affair, Finland is unlikely to be so lucky against Russia.

The Czech Republic's 5-1 scoreline against Germany is a bit deceiving, as the Czechs scored three goals inside the final 10 minutes. Their last goal was an empty-netter after Germany pulled Philipp Grubauer.

The Czech Republic opened the group stage with a 5-2 win over Sweden, but the team's 3-0 loss to Russia provides some reason for skepticism about the Czechs.

Like Finland, Canada required some heroics in order to secure its passage to the semifinals. Damon Severson scored during the last second of the third period.

The result was deserved for the Canadians, who had Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni under almost constant pressure. They had 20 shots to Switzerland's six in the final period.

That brush with elimination could galvanize Canada in its quest for a 27th gold medal at the World Championship.