Juraj Slafkovsky had Slovakia’s only two goals four years ago in the first men’s hockey game at the Beijing Olympics, a convincing loss to Finland.
Slafkovsky again scored twice in the tournament opener. Only this time, Slovakia upset Finland 4-1 Wednesday to get the first Olympics with NHL players in more than a decade off to a stunning start.
“This is way better, a way better feeling to win,” Slafkovsky said from Milan.
With Slafkovsky, the MVP in 2022, picking up where he left off at the Olympics and goaltender Samuel Hlavaj stopping 39 of the 40 shots he faced, Slovakia served noticed by knocking off a medal favourite that it should not be taken lightly despite having only seven NHL players, while all but one on Finland’s roster plays in the league.
“We are kind of that team no one’s really expecting us to win much of the games,” alternate captain Martin Fehervary said. “We haven’t won against Finland for a long, long time. I felt like this is the day. I felt like this is the time, and we did it.”
Slafkovsky and Slovakia upset Finland in Olympic men’s hockey opener
Slafkovsky, who now plays for the Montreal Canadiens, scored the first goal of this tournament less than eight minutes in, skating through Finland’s defence and sliding the puck past a helpless Juuse Saros. After Dalibor Dvorsky scored with 13 minutes left to put Slovakia ahead, Slafkovsky wired a shot past Saros on the power play and pumped his fist to the crowd.
“I guess the Olympics are fitting to him,” defenceman Erik Cernak said. “He’s playing well at the Olympics. I’m really happy for him. He’s playing well in Montreal. Now, he brought the same play, same everything.”
Hlavaj had a lot to do with the initial underdog story on the ice, fending off one onslaught after another as Slovakia was outshot 18-5 in the first period and 40-25 overall. Fehervary called Hlavaj, a Minnesota Wild prospect playing in the American Hockey League in Iowa, Slovakia’s best player.
“To be honest, I’ve never seen him play before,” Cernak said. “But he was outstanding. He kept us in it in important moments.”
Unable to watch while the U.S. team he runs was practising next door, Wild general manager Bill Guerin said “it’s great” that Hlavaj got off to such a strong start at the Olympics.
It was not so good for Saros, the Nashville Predators starter who allowed three goals on 24 shots in defeat. Finland next plays archrival Sweden on Friday, and it’s possible Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen gets the nod, just as he did in replacing Saros in net at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago.
“It’s too early to say,” Finland head coach Antti Pennanen said. “I like how Juuse played, and it wasn’t an easy game for him because not that many shots.”
Eeli Tolvanen, also a returning Olympian after playing in 2018, scored Finland’s only goal. Adam Ruzicka scored into an empty net to seal it for Slovakia and deal Finland an unexpected early defeat.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the start we wanted,” captain Mikael Granlund said. “But yep, now we have another chance Friday against Sweden. But we all know the most important games are ahead of us. No panic.”
Sweden defenceman Victor Hedman was not surprised Finland lost to Slovakia because “this is the Olympic Games. We’ve seen a lot of upsets.”
He and his heavily favoured teammates had some dicey times when it looked as if they’d be on the wrong end of an all-time shocker against host Italy before taking the lead midway through and pulling away to win 5-2.
“There are no easy games in tournaments like this, and the gap isn’t what it used to be years ago,” said captain Gabriel Landeskog, who scored the tying goal after Sweden fell behind when Italy’s Luca Frigo scored four minutes in. “A little bit of rust, some things to clean up, but that’s to be expected. I thought it was a hard-fought game, no doubt.”
Italy comes up short in opening match as Sweden defeats host nation
When Gustav Forsling scored to give Sweden the lead before the end of the first period, it looked as if it was the goal that would end the long shot bid.
Instead, Italy players went into intermission knowing they could play with one of the best teams in the world and showed it early in the second when Canadian import Matt Bradley tied it again.
Sweden went ahead for good when William Nylander scored late in the second, and Italy goalie Damian Clara left midway through the third after his right leg cramped up making one of his 46 saves on 49 shots. That cut short an incredible performance by the Anaheim Ducks prospect drafted in the second round in 2023.
“He played unbelievable,” Italy’s Dustin Gazley said. “If it wasn’t for him, the score could have been way higher than it was. That was his job, and that’s what he did for us and it was huge to have him back there stopping pucks.”
Mika Zibanejad scored on backup Davide Fadani, who relieved Clara, and Hedman’s empty-net goal sealed it. The all-NHL Swedes had 60 shots to Italy’s 22.
“You put up 60 shots, usually you win those games — and we did,” Hedman said. “We knew Clara was a big, big talent. Anaheim is lucky to have a prospect like that. He played unbelievable and kept them in the game. We could’ve been a little bit more direct, but it felt like a typical opening game and nerves, even though it doesn’t matter who you play.”
