Slovakia is the first team to move to 2-0 at the men’s Winter Olympic hockey tournament, beating Italy 3-2 on Friday afternoon.
With the win, Slovakia currently leads Group B with six points. Sweden and Finland are currently tied for second with three points each, while Italy has yet to get on the board.
Anyone who was expecting a low-scoring affair – especially after the goaltending we saw from both teams on Day 1 – wasn’t too surprised with the final result. The two teams elected to go with their backups today – Italy’s Davide Fadani and Slovakia’s Stanislav Skorvanek – and both looked good.
The Slovaks, though, were the better team offensively. Libor Hudacek scored on the power play to open the scoring at 23:51, with Matus Sukel adding another goal just under 10 minutes later. But Matt Bradley’s goal at 37:06 gave Italy some life, and then Dustin Gazley added one in the third for the Italians. Unfortunately for the hosts, Adam Ružička’s goal in the final stanza proved the game-winner, helping the Slovaks move to 2-0.
Here’s a look at the top performers from Friday’s fight:
Italy
#35 Davide Fadani, G: It was going to be hard to top Damian Clara’s performance from Wednesday, but Fadani gave it his best effort. With Italy getting heavily outshot, Fadani looked up to the task, directing pucks away from danger consistently. Fadani was good at the Division IA World Championship last year, helping the Italians qualify for the main event in Switzerland later this year. Goaltending was always going to be a strength of this group heading into the Olympics, and it sure has been after 120 minutes of play.
#10 Dustin Gazley, RW: Gazley was one of Italy’s few forwards who proved capable of shooting at 5-on-5, and he scored the big 3-2 goal late in the game. He’s a battler – he’ll take physical punishment if it means having a chance at scoring in tight. Italy’s scoring chances have been limited, so they’ll need more from Gazley over the next few days.
#13 Matt Bradley, C: That’s another big game for the former Montreal Canadiens prospect. Bradley earned his citizenship prior to the Olympics, and without him, the offense would have been completely barren. Bradley loves spending time around the net, and has the natural skill to convert on rebounds and quick plays.
Slovakia
#20 Juraj Slafkovsky, RW (Montreal Canadiens): Surprise, surprise. Slafkovsky nabbed his second assist of the tournament on the first Slovak goal, making a nice cross-crease pass to Hudacek. By the time Italy had taken its eighth shot of the game, Slafkovsky had already taken six himself. He’s a dominant offensive force for a Slovak team that needs someone like him. It’ll only get harder from here, but Slafkovsky has been Slovakia’s most important player through two games, bar none.
#21 Adam Ružička, C: Ružička was everywhere in this one, especially on the power play. He finally scored on his fifth shot of the game, converting on a rebound in the slot to give the Slovaks some breathing room. While his NHL career ended abruptly, Ružička has remained a solid contributor in the KHL, and is now up to two goals for the Slovaks. That’s two solid games from the 6-foot-4 power forward who actually has some impressive hands.
#79 Libor Hudáček, LW: On the opposite end of the size spectrum, there’s Hudáček. At 5-foot-10, he’s definitely small, but he can’t be pushed around easily. He scored in this one because it was tough to move around the net, and he has some nice hands, too. Hudáček was a solid depth player at the 2022 Winter Games, but has shown he can play with a bit more skill when needed – he had 10 points at the 2024 World Championship. He was quiet against Finland, but Hudáček was much more noticeable today.
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