Slafkovsky scores twice, Slovakia defeats Finland in Group B opener

MILAN -- Team Slovakia made an emphatic statement to open the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 men’s hockey tournament on Wednesday.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and an assist, and Samuel Hlavaj made 39 saves in a 4-1 win against Team Finland in a Group B preliminary-round game at Santagiulia Arena.

“If we keep building our game, it can be really good,” Slafkofsky said.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Slovakia-Finland

It was good on Wednesday. Slafkovsky was a reason for the brilliance and a key cog in the ability of Slovakia (1-0-0-0) to defeat Finland for the first time in four Olympic meetings.

Eeli Tolvanen scored for Finland (0-0-1-0), and Juuse Saros made 21 saves.

Slafkovsky, a forward for the Montreal Canadiens, scored the opening goal of the game, turning a turnover by Finland defenseman Mikko Lehtonen into a brilliant solo effort, curling around Saros and tucking the puck into the unguarded net at 7:45 of the first period.

After Dalibor Dvorsky made it 2-1 early in the third period, Slafkovsky gave the Slovaks some breathing room with his power-play goal at 10:30. He assisted on the empty-net goal by Adam Ruzicka at 17:39 that made it 4-1.

“I don’t believe [I would score twice], but I am happy that it is like this and I am able to help my country and help my friends out there that are trying to win the game,” Slafkovsky said.

The two-goal performance came after Slafkovsky scored seven goals in seven games at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when Slovakia won the bronze medal.

He was named MVP of the tournament and was then selected with the No. 1 pick by the Canadiens in the 2022 NHL Draft four months later.

Slafkovsky has nine goals in eight Olympic games. Slovakia faces Team Italy at Rho Arena on Friday (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN).

“I wish I could have two goals every game, but sometimes it is not going to happen,” he said. “I was in a good spot at a good time, and I was shooting the puck.

“It’s a great feeling. It gives a huge confidence boost, but we have to rest and do it again on Friday. But it for sure feels nice.”

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

Finland plays fierce rival Team Sweden here on Friday (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI TOU.TV, CBC Gem, TSN, RDS) in a make-or-break game after the loss Wednesday.

“Obviously, we want to have a better result next game,” Finland forward Sebastian Aho said. “Against Sweden, it’s a good team and we’ve got to be at our best to win that.”

In this game, Hlavaj made Slafkovsky’s heroics stand up.

“We were helping each other, and sometimes even when we made a mistake our goalie was right there behind us and he was stopping the puck like crazy,” Slafkovsky said.

Finland outshot Slovakia 40-25 and dominated time spent in the offensive zone. In the first period, it had 18 shots on goal and trudged to the dressing room trailing 1-0.

“It was a tight game,” Finland forward Artturi Lehkonen said. “We had chances, and at the end of the day we’ve got to capitalize on them. Today, we didn’t.”

Signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Wild on April 5, 2024, Hlavaj, who plays for Iowa of the American Hockey League, has been an integral part of the Slovak national team. In qualification play for these Olympics, he went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

Hlajav set the record for the most saves by a Team Slovakia goalie in an Olympics featuring NHL players, besting the previous mark set by Jan Laco (37 saves against Russia on Feb. 16, 2014).

“He was fantastic all game long.” said Dvorsky, who at 20 years old became the youngest Slovak player to score at an Olympics with NHL players. “He made some huge saves, saves that most of the goalies can’t make. He is a world-class goalie, and he showed it today.”

Slovakia won a bronze medal four years ago, thanks in large part to Slafkovsky’s heroics. But that tournament was absent NHL players.

But after stunning Finland, Slovakia is once again dreaming big.

“It shows when you [use] the system that you set up before the game and you do it 100 percent and everybody buys in, you can beat anyone at this tournament,” Slovakian captain Tomas Tatar said.