The elimination round of the Olympic hockey tournament begins tonight, and two of the world’s greatest hockey powers will be in action. Gold-medal favorite Canada will play Germany after being knocked off by Team USA, which comfortably rests with a bye.

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, must face a Latvian squad that gave it a surprising amount of trouble in the preliminary round.

Let’s examine tonight’s matchups with money lines from Bet365 and spreads from Pinnacle.

CANADA vs. GERMANY

Bet365 money line
Canada -140
Germany +110

Pinnacle spread
Canada -4.5
Germany +4.5

HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Canadians are in disarray after needing a shootout to beat Switzerland and losing 5-3 to the United States on Sunday. Despite being the tournament favorite, Canada finished second in its pool and faces an uphill battle to the gold medal game.

Germany has struggled through the tournament, which wasn’t unexpected of this hockey underdog. The Germans lost all three preliminary games and have been outscored 12-3.

ANALYSIS
Team Canada goalie Martin Brodeur struggled badly against the USA, making numerous mistakes when trying to play the puck. Head coach Mike Babcock has elected to sit the New Jersey Devils’ star in favor of hometown favorite Roberto Luongo. The Vancouver Canuck certainly can’t be any worse than Broduer.

PICK
This is merely a tune-up game for Canada, which is preparing for the Russians on Wednesday night. If pucks finally start finding the back of the net, look out. Canada will romp in this one, covering both the money line and spread.

CZECH REPUBLIC vs. LATVIA

Bet365 money line
Czech Republic -110
Latvia -120

Pinnacle spread
Czech Republic -3.5
Latvia +3.5

HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Czechs finished second in their pool after winning two of their three games—including a 5-2 victory over Lativa. The Latvians, meanwhile, struggled to an 0-3 finish while being outscored by 15 goals.

ANALYSIS
Latvia was bombarded very quickly in its recent meeting with the Czechs, allowing three goals in the opening five minutes. The Czechs added another goal before the Latvians tried mounting a comeback, scoring two consecutive goals in the second period. Despite owning two victories, they’ve played solid—but unspectacular—in beating Latvia by three (including an empty netter), Slovakia by two and losing to the Russians.

PICK
The Czech Republic jumped on Latvia with a quick start, but they allowed their opponent to creep back into the game despite a nice talent advantage from front to back. On paper the Czechs should have a goaltending edge with Tomas Vokoun over Edgars Masalskis, but the Latvian netminder was better last time they met (Vokoun stopped 16 of 18, while Masalskis made 34 saves on 38 shots against much more dangerous shooters). The Czechs will win this game outright, but the Latvians will put up a fight; the Czechs won’t cover that spread.