Eeli Tolvanen, Kaapo Kakko, and Team Finland narrowly scraped by against Switzerland to book their ticket to the semifinals, while Philipp Grubauer and Germany couldn't contain Slovakia as their tournament ends in the quarterfinals.
It was a valiant effort from Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer, but unfortunately, he wasn’t enough to get Germany past Slovakia.
Slovakia fired 34 shots at Grubauer, but the 34-year-old allowed five goals. His 2026 Olympic tournament comes to an end after he posted a .912 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average in four games.
At times, if not for the entire tournament, Grubauer was Germany’s best player.
Tolvanen and Kakko were held off the scoresheet in the quarterfinal matchup against Switzerland, but nonetheless, they head to the semifinals with a date against Team Canada.
Finland trailed for most of the game. Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho scored with less than seven minutes remaining to get the Finns on the board before Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen tied the game with less than two minutes to go.
In overtime, Florida Panthers’ Anton Lundell sent Arrturi Lehkonen on a breakaway, and he beat Leonardo Ginnoni top shelf to win the game.
Kakko enters the medal rounds with two goals and four points in four games, and Tolvanen enters with one goal in four games.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.