Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell each got an assist in Sweden's 5-2 win over Italy.
The men's hockey tournament in the 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off with a bang on Wednesday.
Slovakia upset Finland 4-1 in the first of two games before Sweden fended off Italy 5-2. Italy gave Sweden all it could handle, but in the end, Sweden's high-end talent prevailed. Italy goaltender Damian Clara did all he could, making 46 saves before exiting the game in the third period with an apparent leg injury.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Rickard Rakell both suited up for Sweden and recorded an assist in the win.
Karlsson got a secondary assist on Gabriel Landeskog's tying goal in the first period after Italy struck first. Sweden was on a power play and passed the puck around with authority before Landeskog's one-timer tied the game.
After Landeskog tied the game, Gustav Forsling gave Sweden a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Italy tied the game early in the second period before William Nylander made it a 3-2 game later in the period.
Sweden took that 3-2 lead into the third period and got an insurance goal from Mika Zibanejad with less than five minutes to play. Rakell got the secondary assist on that goal.
Victor Hedman added an empty-net goal to seal the 5-2 win for Sweden shortly after Zibanejad's goal.
Outside of Karlsson and Rakell's assists, I felt both skated well and were living in the offensive zone. Karlsson had a couple of outrageous passes that led to chances, and Rakell had some scoring chances of his own.
Sweden will take on rival Finland in its next preliminary game on Friday at 6:10 a.m. ET.
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