2022 Beijing Winter Games odds: Best bets and picks for women's hockey and freestyle skiing on Sunday from Olympics expert

The United States women's hockey team continues its quest for a second straight gold medal when they face off against Finland in the quarterfinals on Monday at the Wukesong Sports Center in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. After losing to Canada in the gold-medal game each of the previous two Olympics, the Americans edged their rival in a shootout at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games for their first gold since 1998.

The Americans are 3.5-goal favorites in the latest U.S. vs. Finland odds at Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total goals scored is 5.5. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:10 a.m. ET. 

Before locking in any Beijing Olympics 2022 picks or predictions, you need to see what SportsLine's Olympics expert, Mike Tierney, has to say. (Head over to SportsLine's 2022 Olympics page for more analysis and updates.)

A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. For Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet Over on Team USA's gold medal count (41.5) and Over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes.

For the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning Under 10.5 gold medals (+110). And at last year's Tokyo Games, he correctly predicted the United States would go Over 111.5 total medals (-110).

Now, Tierney has analyzed Sunday and Monday's action and identified three best bets. We can tell you that he is picking the U.S. (-3.5) to cover against Finland. "Both sides defeated the ROC by a 5-0 score, but the other comparable matchups point to a U.S. romp," Tierney says.

Tierney also has another women's hockey pick and one in freestyle skiing. He says one of these picks' "odds offer value". You ABSOLUTELY need to see what he has to say before locking in your picks. 

Who wins gold in men's freestyl skiing and advances to the semifinals in women's hockey? And what long shot is worth a flyer? Join SportsLine right now to find out who you should back, all from the expert who has crushed his Olympic picks!

Tierney's picks and analysis: 

Freestyle skiing, men's slopestyle (11:30 p.m. ET Monday)
Alex Hall, U.S. (+500)

Because of Hall's disappointing eighth-place finish in the big air event, his odds have inched up past Andri Ragettli of Switzerland (+220) and Norway's Birk Ruud (+350), who won gold. Not to be overlooked is Hall's No. 2 standing in the World Cup rankings, well ahead of everyone but Ragettli. Hall is fresh off a gold performance in the X Games last month. If he can recover from Wednesday's flub, his odds offer value.

Ice hockey, women's semifinals:  Canada vs. Switzerland (11:10 p.m. ET Sunday)
Over 8.5 goals (-140)

Check out the score from their matchup on the opening day of the tournament: Canada 12, Switzerland 1. The Canadians have amassed 44 goals in four outings, even without forward Melodie Daoust - the leading scorer at last year's World Championships who went down in the first game with an upper-body injury, and should approach this total on their own. If the Swiss can find the net a few times, the aggregate scoring should reach double digits.

Ice hockey, women's semifinals:  U.S. vs. Finland (8:10 a.m. ET Monday)
U.S. -3.5 (+110)

The final score of their preliminary-round matchup - a 5-2 Team USA win - might seem to favor Finland in the semifinals. But the lopsided margins in shots on goal (52-12) and faceoffs (40-21) hint that the game was more one-sided. Both sides defeated the ROC by a 5-0 score, but the other comparable matchups point to a U.S. romp. Canada beat the Americans 4-2 and the Finns 11-1. The U.S. defeated Switzerland 8-0, a much more convincing victory than Finland's 3-2 triumph. 

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