USA men’s hockey’s quest for gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics will begin in earnest against Sweden at the Milano Santagiulia Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Puck drop for this quarterfinal matchup is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET, with live TV coverage on NBC.
The Americans qualified directly for this round of the competition by winning all three of their preliminary-round games in Group C. Meanwhile, Sweden finished third in Group B, but beat Latvia 5-1 on Tuesday in the qualification playoffs to reach the last eight.
To prepare for this men’s hockey quarterfinal, let’s dive into the betting odds before making my USA vs Sweden predictions.
USA vs Sweden Odds
All hockey odds used for these USA vs Sweden best bets are current as of Wednesday, Feb. 18, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Moneyline: USA (-270) vs Sweden (+220)
- Puck Line: USA -1.5 (-108) vs Sweden +1.5 (-112)
- Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-102) / Under 6.5 (-118)
USA vs Sweden Predictions
Sweden +1.5 (-112)
This quarterfinal draw is much tougher than Team USA probably would have liked.
Sweden qualified as the No. 7 seed, but only because it lost the head-to-head goal difference tiebreaker against Slovakia and Finland.
Both of those teams are better than anyone the Americans faced in group play, so Sweden should be more battle-tested heading into this matchup.
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The Swedes defeated the Americans 2-1 at TD Garden in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off with largely the same roster, but that game didn’t necessarily mean anything since the U.S. didn’t need a result to reach the Final of that competition.
Still, this Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinal projects to be a close contest, so I’ll take Sweden to cover the puck line as one of my best hockey betting picks today.
USA vs Sweden: Over 5.5 Goals (-180)
There have been plenty of goals in the men’s hockey Olympic tournament, so I’m backing this alternate over at 5.5.
In the preliminary round, 12 of 18 games finished with at least six goals, including four that finished right on that total.
Team USA has scored at least five goals in every game thus far, while Sweden has hit that mark in three of its four contests.
I don’t expect that trend to continue, as both teams will face their strongest opposition yet, but I also don’t have faith in either goaltender to keep the opposition out entirely.
Consider this wager with our top sportsbook promotions for 2026.
