After exciting preliminary contests, it’s onto the playoff round for men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The playoff stage begins early Tuesday with four qualification matchups before the quarterfinals take place on Wednesday. The semifinals will then be held on Thursday before the gold medal match for 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey takes place on Sunday. Canada enters the Olympics men’s hockey playoff as the top seed and -140 favorite to win gold, followed by the United States at +180.

For Tuesday’s contests, the latest hockey odds are: Italy (+980) vs. Switzerland (-2100), France (+550) vs. Germany (-820), Denmark (+320) vs. Czechia (-420) and Latvia (+660) vs. Sweden (-1050). The four winners advance to the Olympic hockey quarterfinals on Wednesday, while the four losers are knocked out of competition. The first faceoffs come at 6:10 a.m. ET. Before making any 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey picks or playoff predictions, you need to see what Matthew Severance has to say.

Severance is coming off an outstanding NHL season in which he went 235-155-21 (plus $2,022). He entered the Olympic break on a 26-12 roll on NHL money-line picks this season, returning $1,326 for $100 players. Anyone following his hockey picks at their favorite sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.

Now, Severance has turned his attention to Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey playoff rounds. He’s only sharing his best bets at SportsLine.

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2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey playoff picks

For the 2026 Winter Olympics hockey playoff round, Severance is backing Under 6.5 total goals in Latvia vs. Sweden at 3:10 p.m. ET. These nations have squared off five times since the 2022 Olympic Games, including in each of the last four World Championships. Four of those five matchups saw under 6.5 goals, with them averaging five combined goals per contest.

With the winner just needing a victory and not needing to worry about goal differential to advance, Severance doesn’t anticipate either squad going all out to find the back of the net late in the game. “There is no need to be pushing hard up three goals or the like in the third period. Save as much energy as possible. Thus, I’d probably lean Under (but no lower than 6.5).” See his other picks at SportsLine.

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How to make 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey predictions

Severance also has puck line and O/U picks for all four Tuesday games, including backing a team to cover the puck line that finished last in its preliminary group. You can only see his playoff picks here.

So who wins the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey playoff contests, and which nations should you back on the puck line? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey picks and playoff best bets from a hockey insider, and find out.

2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey Tuesday playoff odds, schedule

See more picks at SportsLine.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)

6:10 a.m. ET: Italy (+980) vs. Switzerland (-2100)
6:10 a.m. ET France (+550) vs. Germany (-820)
10:40 a.m. ET: Denmark (+320) vs. Czechia (-420)
3:10 p.m. ET: Latvia (+660) vs. Sweden (-1050)