5 things learned from Day 3 of Olympics

MILAN – The men’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 continued Friday with four games.

Early on Friday, Team Finland topped Team Sweden, 4-1 and Team Slovakia dropped Team Italy, 3-2. Also Friday, Team Czechia defeated Team France, 6-3 and Team Canada knocked off Team Switzerland, 5-1.

NHL.com is on site in Milan and will provide insights and observations each day.

Here are 5 things learned from Day 3 of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics:

Canada loads up top line

We knew Canada was explosive. What we didn’t know is that coach Jon Cooper would go nuclear in only the second game of the tournament. Even though the Canadians were leading Team Switzerland 2-1 in the second period, he put together three of the top four scorers in the NHL: Connor McDavid, who leads the League with 96 points (34 goals, 62 assists) in 58 games for the Edmonton Oilers; Nathan MacKinnon, who ranks second with 93 points (40 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games for the Colorado Avalanche; and 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini, who is fourth with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games for the San Jose Sharks. Celebrini promptly scored to give Canada a 3-1 lead at 4:14 of the second, assisted by MacKinnon. MacKinnon scored the final goal of the Canadians’ 5-1 win at 13:03 of the third, assisted by McDavid and Celebrini. “I mean, three really good players,” McDavid said. Uh, yeah. Did Cooper do it just because he could? Did he do it to intimidate the rest of the field? Who can stop these guys? We’ll learn that as the tournament goes on.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Canada-Switzerland

Panther power

Is anybody surprised that it was three players from the Florida Panthers who combined to score the game-winning goal in Team Finland's 4-1 win against Team Sweden on Friday? You shouldn't be. Anton Lundell got the goal that gave Finland a 2-0 lead at 15:26 of the first period. He got the puck in the slot from Eetu Luostarinen, who initially got it from Niko Mikkola. Florida's Finns have been major players in winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and on Friday they played a huge role in Finland bouncing back after a 4-1 loss to Slovakia in its first game of the preliminary round on Wednesday. Juuse Saros did his part with 34 saves and Finland's penalty kill, featuring Lundell, Luostarinen and Mikkola, went 5-for-6. The only negative is that Mikkola left the game late in the third period after blocking a shot. He was hobbled going to the dressing room and did not return. No update on his status was given postgame. But other than that, it was exactly the type of win the Finns needed, and no surprise at all that the Panthers were at the forefront of it.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Sweden

Sweden getting close to its game

Despite the loss to rival Finland, the Swedes said they believe a strong third period can carry over to their game against Slovakia on Saturday and for the rest of the tournament. But they know they need to be better to possibly win Group B and ultimately win a gold medal. “Hopefully this is an opportunity for us to realize what we can do better and what we need to do to be more successful as a team,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “Hopefully we can take this loss as something positive moving forward and when we look back at this tournament this is something that triggered something."

Slovakia is stifling

Slovakia moved into sole possession of first place in Group B with its win and needs just one point against Sweden on Saturday to win the group and the bye to the quarterfinals. Slovakia was dominant in the second period, outshooting Italy 13-3 while taking a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead. The first and third weren’t nearly as easy. Goalie Stanislav Skorvanek was tested several times in the first, most notably sprawling for a save that denied forward Mikael Frycklund on a breakaway at 19:01. At 3:55 of the third, Skorvanek slid over just in time to deny Tommy Purdeller of a goal that would have tied it 2-all. Adam Ruzicka made it 3-1 at 11:54, but Dustin Gazley cut it to a one-goal deficit for Italy with goalie Damian Clara pulled for the extra attacker at 16:25. The lead didn't slip, but Slovakia was made to sweat ahead of its final game of the preliminary round against Sweden.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Italy-Slovakia

Czechia bends but doesn't break

After a 5-0 loss to Team Canada on Thursday, Czechia responded against Team France in its second game of preliminary round play on Friday. It looked like it would be smooth sailing, taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but less than six minutes into the second period, Czechia trailed 3-2. Losing the first two games of the tournament would likely have meant playing an extra game in the qualification round. Instead, Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak scored the tying goal and Matej Stransky's short-handed goal gave the Czechs a lead they would not relinquish. Next up, a game against Team Switzerland on Sunday, which would clinch second place in Group A and possibly a bye into the quarterfinals.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Czechia-France