Gus Forsling helped power Sweden's Olympic-opening win while Finland faltered in their opener; here's how the Panthers players on each team did.
The men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics got underway on Wednesday from Milan.
Two games were held featuring the four teams in Group B: Finland, Slovakia, Sweden and the host nation, Italy.
As will be the case throughout these games, there were several members of the Florida Panthers participating on Wednesday.
Of the ten players and five staff members, five of them kicked off their Olympic journey.
The fun started with the opening game between Finland and Slovakia, one that was surprisingly won in what many considered a big upset, with the Slovaks picking up a 4-1 victory.
It’s going to be a tough tournament for the Finns without Panthers center Sasha Barkov, who is still recovering from September knee surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL.
The three Panthers players who did suit up for Finland did okay against Slovakia.
Niko Mikkola logged two shots on goal in 20:24 of ice time while Anton Lundell played 16:21 and Eetu Luostarinen played 15:51, neither registering a shot while linemate Kaapo Kakko had 2 shots in 15:14.
Finland outshot Slovakia 40-25 despite falling by three goals. Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu was behind the bench for Team Finland in the loss.
The second game of the day saw Florida defenseman Gus Forsling help lead Sweden to a 5-2 victory over the Italians.
It was a dominant effort for the Swedes, outshooting Italy 60-22.
Forsling finished with a goal and an assist on five shots and a plus-3 rating in 18:53 of ice time.
On Thursday we’ll see the remaining Olympic Panthers hit the ice.
Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Team Canada will face Czechia on Thursday at 10:40 a.m. ET while later in the day, Matthew Tkachuk, Bill Zito, Teddy Richards and Team USA will battle Uvis Balinskis, Sandis Vilmanis and Team Latvia at 3:10 p.m. ET. Both games will be played at Santagiulia Arena.
Florida Assistant Coach Jamie Kompon and Team Germany also play at 3:10 pm. ET on Thursday, battling Denmark at Rho Arena in Milan.
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Photo caption: Feb 11, 2026; Milan, Italy; Gustav Forsling of Sweden in action against Italy in men's ice hockey group B play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)