Slovakia shows mettle, grit to earn chance at Olympic medal

MILAN -- Team Slovakia showed its mettle in the aftermath of one of the scariest moments of what has been a magical run during the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Slovakia forward Juraj Slafkovsky lay face down on the ice during the second period of the quarterfinal game against Team Germany at Santagiulia Arena on Wednesday. The Slovakians were holding a one-goal lead but their star, the one player they could not live without, crashed awkwardly into the boards after a collision with Germany defenseman Fabio Wagner.

Slafkovsky gingerly gathered himself and retreated to the bench, the trainer hovering over him, placing an ice pack on his neck.

The Slovaks didn't retreat, they didn't wilt. They scored two goals in 33 seconds and cruised to a 6-2 victory that has the No. 3 seed in the semifinals against the United States.

That game, for the right to play for the gold medal, is Friday.

"Thankfully he was all right," Slovakia captain Tomas Tatar said. "We continued. We scored the goal. That spirit [shows]. It's great. We wanted to stay concentrated. We didn't want to get shaken up by hits. We wanted to be focused and I think we were."

Milos Kelemen scored at 4:01, outworking defenseman Lukas Kalble for a dump-in and cutting to the slot before beating goalie Philipp Grubauer to make it 2-0. On the next shift, Oliver Okuliar was sent in alone on a quick transition. He held the puck until Grubauer opened his legs and then put it through the five-hole.

Slafkovsky, who scored three goals in the first three games of this tournament, loved it. The ice pack still on his neck, he was jumping up and down with teammates, going wild. He returned to the game and had an assist on Tatar's empty-net goal for the 6-2 final.

"It was a great feeling," Slafkovsky said. "That ice pack felt so good and then we got two goals. I will try to do it again, but I won't try to hit my head, but I'll try the ice pack."

So much of this tournament for Slovakia has been about Slafkovsky, a rising star with the Montreal Canadiens. The 21-year-old is already the face of the team, with a team-high seven points (three goals, four assists). He scored seven goals in seven games at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and was named most valuable player after helping Slovakia win bronze, the country's first medal in men's hockey.

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

He wasn't the man on this night. He didn't need to be. His teammates had his back, literally and figuratively, against No. 6 seed Germany, who boast some boldfaced NHL stars including Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.

On the biggest stage the Slovaks have enjoyed since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Slafkovsky was uncharacteristically quiet.

It was OK because others stepped to the fore.

"I got a little nervous when I saw him lying there," Slovakia forward Dalibor Dvorsky said. "I am not going to lie. He is our key player.

"I'm happy that he played the [rest of] the game, but I think we had a key response. You saw right away, four guys going in there, trying to protect him. That shows what kind of team we are, how we care about each other."

Dvorsky had a goal and an assist. His six points (three goals, three assists) are the most by an NHL rookie in a single Olympic tournament, passing the five shared by Russia's Alex Ovechkin (2006), and Finland's Sami Vatanen (2014) and Olli Maatta (2014).

The 20-year-old from the St. Louis Blues is the second-youngest player with a point streak of at least four games at an Olympics with NHL players behind Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, who had points in four straight for Russia at the 2006 Torino Games when he was 19.

All told, 12 Slovak players had at least one point against the Germans, a remarkable display of depth. That is, according to those on the team, the secret to their success here, and why they will be playing for what they hope will be their first medal in an Olympics with NHL players. They lost the bronze-medal game in 2010.

"Our team is not about a couple of top guys," Slovakia coach Vladimir Orszagh said. "Our team is about 22 guys, 25 guys. They stick together in practice and on the ice. Every day, somebody else is a hero. To me, all the guys are heroes; doesn't matter if you play one minute or 20 minutes, everyone chips in.

"We are a band of brothers who work for the team, work for each other and are living our dream. We are still living. We are in top four."