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.
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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.
HOCKEY H – Juraj Slafkovsky débloque son compteur! 🇸🇰🔥
Le jeune prodige des Canadiens de Montréal fait vibrer les filets olympiques pour lancer le tournoi. C'est 1-0 pour la Slovaquie face à la Finlande. 🏒#MilanoCortina2026#rcsports#hockey#jeuxolympiquespic.twitter.com/Qu8PNYHZMH
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) February 11, 2026
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.
SLAFKOVSKY AGAIN!!!
This guy loves international games!🔥 pic.twitter.com/ucSPDxDxUs
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) February 11, 2026
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.
Juraj Slafkovsky 🇸🇰 is a multi-sport Olympian, he’s out there playing hockey AND soccer
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 11, 2026
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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