Against all odds, and despite losing 5-3 to Sweden, Slovakia won Group B and is now waiting to learn who they'll face in the quarter-finals. Unsurprisingly, Juraj Slafkovsky played a key role and he's now leading all players in points at the tournament.
When Juraj Slafkovsky plays for the Montreal Canadiens, he’s just one of the guys, but when he’s playing for his country, the 21-year-old carries the hopes of a nation. After winning their first two games, the Slovaks were hoping to cause another upset against Sweden to take the top spot in Group B.
The game didn’t start the way the Slovaks would have wanted; they misplayed the puck on a power play, and the Swedes took off on an odd-man rush. While Samuel Hlavaj made the first save, he was unable to freeze the puck, and Joel Erikson-Ek pounced on it to give Sweden the lead.
Less than two minutes later, though, Slovakia set up camp in the Swedes’ zone, Juraj Slafkovsky called for the puck and sent a picture-perfect one-timer past Jacob Markstrom to tie the game at 1-1. This was the former first-overall pick’s 10th Olympic goal in 10 Olympic games. He is just the fourth male to reach the 10-goal milestone before age 22, and the first since American Bruce Mather did so in 1948.
That goal also ties him up with Miroslav Satan for the second-highest Olympic goal scorer in Slovakia's history. Marian Hossa is their top scorer with 14 goals in 19 games, and given Slafkovsky’s current scoring pace, it seems highly likely that the record will be his sooner rather than later.
The NHL has committed to participating in the Olympics for 12 years, starting in 2026, meaning that Slafkovsky will at least have the possibility of playing in two more Olympics, perhaps even more if the league renews its commitment. We’ve already seen in this tournament that it wouldn’t, though, with Kevin Fiala suffering a season-ending surgery that took place in Italy on Saturday. Chances are, the Los Angeles Kings organization is not so hot on their players participating right now.
The second frame was an interesting one with the Swedes taking the lead on a questionable power play, but the Slovaks tied it right back just over two minutes later. The score didn’t stay tied for long, though. The Swedes took the lead back just five minutes later, and it held until the end of the middle stanza.
Smelling blood, Sweden, who needed a win by at least three goals to win Group B, pressed on, and it worked; they scored a pair of goals to take a 5-2 lead, but Lukas Raymond, who had scored a beautiful goal, took a bad penalty with 2:30 left in the game. Slovakia took its time out, settled down, and deployed its power play. It took some time, but with one second left in the penalty, Dalibor Dvorsky scored when he took Slafkovsky's rebound to make it 5-3 and win Group B for Slovakia despite the loss.
A group game is rarely that exciting, but it was a treat to watch these two countries battle. In the end, Sweden put 51 shots on Hlavaj’s net, but he made enough saves to get his country over the finish line with the result they needed.
Slafkovsky spent over 21 minutes on the ice, more than any other Slovak skater, took four shots on net, recorded a goal and an assist, and finished the game with a minus-two rating. There’s no denying that the youngster once again delivered under pressure, but at times, his youth showed.
In the second frame, Slovakia had a power play, and the Swedes made sure not to allow any passes to Slafkovsky. His frustration was obvious. Then, when his team wasted an odd-man rush opportunity, the play went the other way, and Sweden scored a third goal. The winger looked caught off guard when he backchecked, and defensive assignments were missed. Still, in the end, the Slovaks won Group B, and that’s a result not many would have thought possible when the Olympics started.
With his two points, Slafkovsky now has six points in three games and currently leads all players in points, ahead of Connor McDavid, who also had six points but one goal less than the Canadiens’ player. Matchups for the quarter-finals have yet to be determined, but whoever they take on must be ready for a big game from the Slovaks.
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