Canada vs Norway Prediction 16 May 2024

🔊Why did the "Maple Leafs" significantly strengthen their lineup, but start playing even worse? The Canadian team was joined by Toronto's center forward John Tavares and Tampa's winger Brandon Hagel. This is a very significant reinforcement of the lineup ahead of the playoff matches. The Norwegians defeated the Danes 2:0 in the last match, and it was their main victory of the tournament.

Canada traditionally gets stronger as the championship progresses, including by adding new high-quality players to the lineup. This happens at all recent World Championships, and initially, it becomes a problem, as it requires breaking up already established combinations and forming new attacking trios. Some players fall out of the game rhythm with new partners. This is exactly what happened to the Canadians in the first match with new players, where the team literally stalled in the third period. Surely, the team will learn from this unsuccessful stretch and will prepare more thoroughly for the playoff matches.

Norway achieved a crucial victory over Denmark and accomplished their main goal of the tournament, preserving their spot in the elite division of the World Championship. Now, the team can calmly finish the tournament. The Austrians demonstrated the day before that this Canadian team can be played against in open hockey. This only benefits the Norwegians.

Projected lineups
Canada: Binnington – Power, Parayko – Hagel, Tavares, Dubois

Norway: Haukeland – Solberg, Johannessen – Thoresen, Salsten, Zuccarello

Information about player injuries will be updated throughout the tournament. There are no injuries from the first two matches.

Goalies
Jordan Binnington had a disastrous match against the Austrians, conceding five goals in the third period - a catastrophe, and it was the Canadian goalie who was to blame for this failure. A replacement for the main goalie is likely for Canada.

Henrik Haukeland, Norway's goalie, on the other hand, faces a large number of shots in each match but sometimes fails to save his team.

Editorial prediction
Canada has undergone major changes in the lineup. The arrival of new players has completely changed the composition of all attacking trios, which in turn, led to a painful result in the match against Austria. Players need time to develop cohesion. The Norwegians have already played their main matches of the tournament and achieved a positive result. In our opinion, Norway will win this match with a handicap (+3.5).

📊Statistics are everything to us! And we are ready to provide them:

• officially, the clubs have played in 15;

• today's ice hosts have 14;

• the guests have – 1;

• the hosts struck the opponent's goal 78 times;

• the guests – 19 times.