Finland scores 11 against Italy, finishes 2nd in Group B

MILAN -- The winner of Group B at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 was decided Saturday on one of the most bizarre days in the history of the men’s hockey tournament.

One team celebrated a loss, another team pulled its goalie leading by two goals in the final 39 seconds, and another team set the record for most goals in a game.

When the dust had finally settled, Team Finland was an 11-0 winner against Team Italy, resulting in Team Slovakia winning the group and Team Sweden falling to at least seventh in the 12-team field for the single-elimination stage of the tournament.

Confused? You’re not alone.

“We tried to figure it out,” Finnish defenseman Olli Maatta said after his team’s romp over the host country put them in strong position to win the one wild card and get a bye to the quarterfinals.

By the time Finland took the ice at 4:40 p.m. local time, the formula was quite simple. Though the Finns couldn’t win the group no matter how many goals they scored, a win in regulation would give Slovakia the group and drop rival Sweden to third. Finland also knew the more it scored, the better the chances of getting the wild card.

And scored it did.

Kaapo Kakko had two goals and an assist, Mikael Granlund, Sebastian Aho and Joel Kiviranta each scored twice, Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and two assists, and Joel Armia and Miro Heiskanen each had a goal and an assist for Finland (2-0-1-0), which finished second in the group.

Fourteen players had at least one point to help Finland win for the second straight day, following a 4-1 win against Sweden on Friday.

Mikko Rantanen had three assists, and Niko Mikkola, Rasmus Ristolainen, Eetu Luostarinen and Erik Haula each had two assists. Juuse Saros, playing each end of the back-to-back, made 15 saves.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Italy

“We decided we were going to win and win by as many goals as we can,” Armia said.

Damian Clara made 32 saves through the first two periods for Italy (0-0-3-0). Davide Fadani made 19 saves in relief.

“That stings for us from a pride perspective and in the standings," Italian defenseman Dylan Di Perna said, "but Coach told us before the tournament started that the fourth game is the most important one and we have to grow as a group in the first three games to play our best hockey in the fourth game.

“We will take whatever we can out of this as that is the level we have to compete at if we want to compete with these guys. Hopefully our best hockey is ahead of us.”

Rantanen said Finland was well aware of all the machinations heading into the game and got to the arena in time to see the final minutes of Slovakia’s 5-3 loss to Sweden. When Slovakia scored with 39 seconds left in regulation, it not only gave it the key tiebreaker to win a possible three-way traffic jam with Sweden and Finland atop the group, it put Finland in position to win the wild card. Sweden, looking to get the goal back, pulled goalie Jacob Markstrom, but could not score.

“We actually were at the rink early, so we had the chance to watch the game,” Rantanen said. “So they scored with like a minute left, so we were excited and then nervous for the last minute, but Slovakia did a good job.

“It helped we knew before the game that we needed to win, and the second thing it helps if we score a lot.”

Though the wild card won’t be determined until after the four games on the schedule Sunday, Finland has a goal differential of plus-11, which will be hard for anyone to top.

The barrage started 6:49 of the first period when Aho banged in a pass from Rantanen to make it 1-0.

Granlund made it 2-0 at 9:31 with another assist from Rantanen, who became the second Team Finland player to have multiple assists in the opening period of a game during an Olympics with NHL players, joining Teemu Selanne, who did it on Feb. 16, 1998.

Kakko scored his first goal 47 seconds later at 10:18 to give Finland a 3-0 lead. Finland upped its lead at 4:04 of the second when Kiviranta deflected a slap shot from Mikkola through the pads of Clara to make it 4-0.

Kakko scored again at 7:39 to make it 5-0 Finland, which has outscored opponents 15-1 since a 4-1 loss to Slovakia on Wednesday.

“He made some awesome plays,” Maatta said of Kakko. “And whenever he got chances, he made it count. So it’s good to have a guy like that on your team when you know if he’s going to get a chance, he’s going to bury it.”

Granlund scored his second at 17:36, taking a beautiful feed from Kakko and putting it over an outstretched Clara, making it 6-0.

Heiskanen scored on the power play at 1:01 of the third period to make it 7-0, Lehkonen made it 8-0 at 1:34 and Aho added his second at 3:43 to stretch the Finns' lead to 9-0.

Armia made it 10-0 at 13:2, and Kiviranta capped the scoring at 17:13 for the 11-0 final.

"I thought we were playing the game we wanted to from start to finish,” Aho said. “That was the game plan we were trying to execute how we want to play, and we were able to score some goals as well, which should help.

“It's tough to think mid-game, but maybe at the start of the game you have that extra because you know it's an important part of the game. Absolutely it matters, so that's why it's good on us playing start to finish."

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

Asked if he felt guilty with the lopsided score over a Team Italy with no NHL players on its roster, Rantanen said, “This was probably the only game I didn’t feel bad, just because the goal differential. I knew how much that matters for the second place to get the bye to quarterfinals. So today I didn’t feel bad, but it’s important to get those goals.”

NOTES: Saros became the sixth different Finnish goaltender to record a shutout at an Olympics with NHL players. He joined Antero Niittymaki (three times in 2006), Fredrik Norrena (twice in 2006), Tuukka Rask (Feb. 22, 2014), Niklas Backstrom (Feb. 19, 2010) and Miikka Kiprusoff (Feb. 24, 2010). … Team Finland’s 12 players with multiple points marks the most in a single game by a country at an Olympics with NHL participation. The previous record was eight. … The previous record for goals in a Olympic game featuring NHL players was nine, which was accomplished three times (Russia vs. Kazakhstan, 1998; Latvia vs. Ukraine, 2002; and Russia vs. Latvia, 2006).