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Olympic Hockey Recap: Clara nearly steals game from Sweden and Pettersson; Slafkovsky’s big day lifts Slovakia past Finland
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Photo credit: © Mike Segar/Reuters via Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Feb 11, 2026, 19:56 EST
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What a breath of fresh air it was to watch best on best with NHL talent on the ice for the first time in 12 years.
The day kicked off with a match between Slovakia and Finland. Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen served as the backup for the Finns, but that might change for the next game.

Slovakia vs. Finland

It didn’t take long for the first highlight reel goal of the Olympics.
G: Juraj Slafkovsky – A: unassisted – 1-0 Slovakia
Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky intercepted a Mikko Lehtonen clearing attempt, sending the pass up the middle of the ice. Slafkovsky danced around one Finn, cut to the net and skated right past Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros to give the Slovaks an early lead.
Despite heavily outplaying Slovakia through the opening frame, Finland walked into the first break down one. But that changed quickly in the second period.
G: Eeli Tolvanen – A: Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen– 1-1 tie
At the tail end of a Finnish power play, Tolvanen buried a rebound to get his nation on the board.
Heading into the final period, the Finns still held a commanding edge in scoring chances, although the scoreline was tied. And before they could find a way to put another one past Samuel Hlavaj, who was the only reason this game was not already out of hand at this point.
But the third period is when the ice tilted in Slovakia’s favour.
G: Dalibor Dvorsky – A: Martin Gernat– 2-1 Slovakia
Then, Dalibor Dvorsky gave the Czech’s the lead, before we saw another absolute beauty from Slafkovsky.
G: Juraj Slafkovsky – A: Simon Nemec and Dalibor Dvorsky – 3-1 Slovakia
Collecting the pass from Nemec along the blueline, Slafkovsky takes the time and space in front of him, walks down and rips a scorching wrist shot up and over Saros to extend the Slovaks’ lead to two.
And in an attempt to complete the hat trick with a Finnish empty net, Slafkovsky had his stick stripped out of his hands. However, his efforts to protect the puck were just enough for former Calgary Flames forward Adam Ruzicka to bury the empty net goal and secure a Slovakian upset.
G: Adam Ruzicka – A: Tomas Tatar and Juraj Slafkovsky – 4-1 Slovakia win.
Here are the final ice times of this contest:
Daily Faceoff’s Finnish standout players: Miro Heiskanen, Eeli Tolvanen, and Artturi Lehkonen.
Daily Faceoff’s Slovakian standout players: Samuel Hlavaj, Simon Nemec, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Now, to Sweden vs. Italy. Or should I say, the Damian Clara game.

Sweden vs. Italy

It was an electric start for the Italians, who got the Milano Santagiulia IHO erupting when Luca Frigo gave the home fans a lead in the first five minutes.
G: Luca Frigo – A: unassisted – 1-0 Italy
In what looked like a typical routine dump down the ice on net, Filip Gustavsson did not play it properly. He came out of his net to try to play the puck up to a teammate. When the puck hit his stick, it forced him to drop it, and he was forced to retreat to his net, leaving Frigo a clear run to the net. The Italian took advantage of that and gave his country the early lead.
After the goal, the Swedes were utterly dominant. They held the Italian’s to as many shots as they had goals in the final 15 minutes of the opening frame.
First, it was Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog, who blasted home a feed from the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad with a second left on the power play.
G: Gabriel Landeskog – A: Mika Zibanejad and Erik Karlsson – 1-1 tie.
Then, Gustav Forsling pinched down the left side and gave the Swedes their first lead of the game with just over two minutes remaining.
G: Gustav Forsling – A: Jesper Bratt and Rasmus Dahlin – 2-1 Sweden.
And despite trailing heading into the intermission, this game could have been way, way worse had it not been for Damian Clara. The Italian netminder was busy, having stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced in just 20 minutes. That’s nearly 1.5 shots per minute. And he had his team within one, with just three shots on goal.
But his Captain gave his goaltender some goal support after his miraculous first period. Matthew Bradley won the race down the wall to the loose puck and cashed in 37 seconds into the second period.
G: Matthew Bradley – A: Dustin Gazley and Thomas Larkin – 2-2 tie.
So, the scorebug now reads 2-2. But look at the shots to this point.
One team was dominating, but with no help from their goaltender. The other team was getting dominated territorially while their goaltender saved their behinds. And that didn’t change over the period. The Swedes kept firing, and Clara continued making massive stop after massive stop, doing everything in his power to keep the game tied.
That was until William Nylander, who nearly did not play, gave his country the lead.
LA Kings forward Adrian Kempe dropped the puck to a pinching Rasmus Dahlin along the right-hand well. The Buffalo Sabre Captain dips to the middle of the ice, gets a solid chance on net, but like many fellow Swedes up until that point, was stopped by Clara. However, Nylander was left all alone and buried the rebound.
G: William Nylander – A: Rasmus Dahlin and Adrian Kempe – 3-2 Sweden
Tracking toward Olympic history, Clara was left one-on-one with Canucks’ Elias Pettersson, who came in on a shorthanded breakaway. Pettersson nearly beats the Italian netminder on a backhand-forehand move, but Clara sprawled to his right to make the save. He would lie on the ice briefly, but managed to stay in the game.
After making another handful of saves, Clara was left grimacing and eventually left the game, shaking his leg. He would exit the game with 46 of a possible 49 saves with 14 minutes remaining in the final frame. Davide Fadani replaced him, allowing just one goal.
G: Mika Zibanejad – A: Rasmus Dahlin and Rickard Rakell – 4-2 Sweden
The Swedes added an insurance marker with under three minutes to go.
G: Victor Hedman – A: Gustav Forsling – 5-2 Sweden Final.
Here are the final ice times of this contest:
Daily Faceoff’s Swedish standout players: Rasmus Dahlin, Gustav Forsling, Joel Eriksson Ek, and William Nylander.
Daily Faceoff’s Italian standout players: Damian Clara, Matt Bradley, Cristiano DiGiacinto, and Luca Frigo.

Canucks takeaway

Elias Pettersson
All things considered, Pettersson looked much better in this contest than he did at the 4 Nations. He was noticeable offensively and defensively. What was most encouraging was that Pettersson was ripping the puck a lot more. Unfortunately, the scoresheet says just one shot on goal, but he had a couple misses, including one he rang off the post shortly.
He finishes with a plus-two rating, and while that’s still good, he probably should have found his way on the scoresheet. Pettersson had the screen on Fadani on Zibanejad’s goal and made sure to move out of the way for the shot to go in. And then he won the defensive zone faceoff, which is how the Swedes would put the final nail in the coffin on the empty net goal.
Hopefully, Pettersson can do the same against a tougher opponent on Friday against Team Finland, where he could be facing Canucks teammate Kevin Lankinen, who did not see action today. However, that could change as Saros struggled yet again for Finland at the International stage.
That’s Day 1 in the books. Stay tuned for a preview on February 12, coming shortly!

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