In the first game of the men’s tournament, Finland dominated the play against Slovakia. However, the Finns struggled to put the puck in the back of the net. Along with Slovakia’s Juraj Slakfkovsky having a great performance, Finland ended up losing 4-1.

Welcome to Last Word On Hockey’s Olympic Predictions. Each day, our writers here at Last Word On Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis.

Two Nashville Predators, Juuse Saros and Filip Forsberg, will face each other when Finland takes on Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 13.

Slovakia opened the 2026 Winter Olympics with a decisive 4–1 victory over defending champion Finland, powered by two goals from Juraj Slafkovský and a 38-save performance from Samuel Hlavaj.

MILAN (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog stood on his couch as the clock ticked down to Sweden beating archrival Finland to win the gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics. The 13-year-old jumped up and down at the buzzer.

Though Finland announced its roster Jan. 2, NHL.com is taking it a step further, taking our shot at what some countries' forward lines, defense pairs and goalie depth chart should look like.

If Sweden and Finland aren't at the top of Group B at the conclusion of the preliminary round, then the Olympics will have turned upside down.

Lehtonen is not the only player on Team Finland with Olympic experience. Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was playing for HIFK in Liiga, Finland's top hockey league, and Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen with Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League, when they were Lehtonen's teammates at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.