It’s not the Olympic medal either team was hoping for, but at the end of the day — and the end of the tournament — Finland and Slovakia will still compete for an Olympic medal. After dropping their semi-final showdowns to Canada and the United States on Friday, the Finns and Slovaks will have to regroup quickly as they meet up with a bronze medal on the line.

The bronze medal match-up is set for 8:40 pm local time in Milano on Saturday night. That makes it an 11:40 am start time in the Pacific time zone. Television viewers can find the game on CBC, Bell Media (TSN) or Rogers (Sportsnet). It will also be streamed on CBC Gem.

Here are the projected lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff.

*Note. Teams start an extra forward (13) and defenceman (7) per game. The fourth pairing is the extra forward and defenceman.

The Finns are unlikely to make any significant changes to a lineup that pushed Canada to the limit in the semi-final. Eeli Tolvanen was a healthy scratch for the semi-final while Oliver Kapanen dressed for the game but did not see the ice at all. Kevin Lankinen, the lone Vancouver Canucks representative still in the Olympic competition, was relegated to Finland’s third goalie on Friday and did not dress for the semi-final.

Simon Nemec was the only Slovak player to log more than 20 mintues in Friday’s semi-final. He played 22:28. Otherwise, the Slovaks used a balanced lineup, which should serve them well as they return to action with little rest between games.

The third-place showdown comes on the heels of disappointing semi-final losses on Friday. Even though both teams are playing on consecutive days, look for the same starting goalies that got the nod in the semi-finals.

For Finland, Juuse Saros has been the only netminder to see game action in the tournament. He stopped 36 of the 39 Canadian shots he faced and was a huge reason the Finns nearly pulled off a stunning upset.

The Slovaks started Samuel Hlavaj against the States, but gave him the hook after the Americans grabbed a 4-0 lead. He was replaced by Stanislav Skorvanek who allowed two goals on 14 shots. The Slovaks will likely go back to Hlavaj with a medal on the line.

Mikko Rantanen netted his second goal of the Olympic tournament to open the scoring on a first period power play against Canada on Friday. He’s always dangerous in big games and could very well be heard from again with a bronze medal up for grabs. Rantanen leads all Finns with six points in Milano. It’ll be interesting to see what Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell have left in the tank with a quick turnaround after logging 27:33 and 25:21 respectively against Canada.

Juraj Slafkovsky scored his fourth goal of the Milano games in Friday’s 6-2 loss to Team USA. He and Dalibor Dvorsky have been the most dangerous Slovaks in these Olympics. Slafkovsky has eight points while Dvorsky has six.

Catch Every Goal from the 2026 Milan Games! The 2026 Milan Games are almost here, and the world’s best men’s and women’s hockey players are ready to battle for gold! The Nation Network is bringing you every game, every jaw-dropping save, and all the drama with live reaction streams and full recaps. Don’t miss a moment of Olympic hockey action—men’s, women’s, and everything in between—on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel. Subscribe now and stay on top of every play!