Juraj Slafkovsky and Slovakia were taking on Finland on Wednesday to kick off the Olympic tournament and the Montreal Canadiens' winger put on a show.
In 2022, Montreal Canadiens’ soon-to-be first-overall draft pick Juraj Slafkovsky dominated the Olympic Games as a 17-year-old and caught the eye of the Habs’ brass thanks to his MVP performance. Four years later, Slafkovsky returned to the Olympics with Slovakia, carrying the hopes of a nation. Before the first game, the youngster said he knew it would be a different tournament with NHL players participating, but as the level of competition rose, so did the 21-year-old.
In their first game of the tournament, the Slovaks were taking on the heavily favoured Finns, who had a roster made up almost exclusively of NHL players, with a single defenseman, Mikko Lehtonen, plying his trade outside of the NHL with the Zurich Lions of the Swiss National League. Meanwhile, the Slovaks had only seven NHLers on their roster, but if they were intimidated, it didn’t show, as they skated away with the three points. Their 4-1 win was the product of two brilliant performances: that of Slafkovsky, who had two goals and an assist in the game, and that of goaltender Samuel Hlavaj.
According to the pregame coverage, the goaltending was meant to be Slovakia’s weakness, but Hlavaj clearly didn’t get the memo. Finland came out strong, forcing Hlavaj to weather the storm, which he did brilliantly. When the Finns made a mistake trying to exit their own zone, Slafkovsky pounced on the puck and beat Juuse Saros with a brilliant individual effort. After 20 minutes, the Slovaks had a 1-0 lead, and Hlavaj already had 18 saves to his name in a display reminiscent of Latvia’s Kristers Gudlevskis’ performance back in 2014 when he stopped 55 of the 57 shots he faced against Canada in a 2-1 defeat.
Finland came out strong in the 2nd frame. It tied the score when Eeli Tolvanen completed a great passing play from former Habs Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia just as Slovakia’s penalty was expiring. The Finns piled on another 15 shots in that frame but were unable to take the lead as the Slovaks grew more confident with each save Hlavaj made.
Seven minutes into the final frame, Dalibor Dvorsky won a big faceoff in the offensive zone and went straight to the net, where he was able to tap in a rebound to give Slovakia a lead it would never surrender. Just over three minutes later, with Slovakia on the power play, the Finns gave Slafkovsky plenty of time and space, and he went bar down on Saros to make it 3-1 Slovakia.
The winger came oh so close to getting his hat trick when the Finns had pulled their goalie, but Sebastian Aho managed to make him lose his stick, making it impossible for him to score. Slafkovsky didn’t give up, though; he created just enough obstruction to make sure his teammates recovered the puck and scored, which Adam Ruzicka did, with Tomas Tatar and the Canadiens’ forward getting an assist.
The Slafkovsky we saw on the ice on Wednesday showed just how much he has grown as a player since 2022. He’s much more confident and comfortable with the puck; he’s able to skate with it and slow down the play when needed. If you give him an opportunity, he won’t hesitate to take it and hit you where it hurts. He has poise, he has control, he has size; the world now sees just what the Canadiens saw when they drafted him in 2022.
In just eight Olympic matches, Slafkovsky now has nine goals, passing Marian Gaborik with the third-highest total in Slovakian history. Miroslav Satan is second with just 10 goals in 22 games, and Marian Hossa is first with 14 goals in 19 games. If the youngster keeps up that kind of play, it’s easy to imagine that he could still move up those rankings this tournament.
As for Oliver Kapanen, the Canadiens’ rookie had to look on from the press box as his teammate put on a show since he was a healthy scratch. We’ll see if the 4-1 defeat prompts the Finn to make some changes.
The Slovaks will be back in action on Friday at 6:10 AM ET when they’ll take on the host nation, Italy. Needless to say, they will not be the underdog then, with the Italian roster made up solely of players not in the NHL.
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