Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak helped Team Slovakia to a fourth-place finish at this year’s 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, a journey that ended with a 6-1 loss to Finland in the bronze medal game on Saturday.
Sebastian Aho found the lone goal of the first period to make it 1-0 Finland, burying a loose puck in the crease just before the game’s eighth minute.
Erik Haula doubled the lead with a shot from the top of the right circle eight minutes into the second period, but Slovakia got on the scoreboard with captain Tomas Tatar’s backhand finish that made it 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the middle frame.
A power-play redirection from forward Roope Hintz and another goal from Kaapo Kakko extended Finland’s lead in the third period before two empty-net goals sealed the final score.
Cernak played just under 17 minutes for Slovakia on Saturday and finished his Olympics with an assist and 14 penalty minutes in six games while serving as an alternate captain.
Scoring Summary
First period
FIN 1, SVK 0
7:27 Sebastian Aho (4) - Artturi Lehkonen, Miro Heiskanen
Shots on goal: FIN 10, SVK 6
Second period
FIN 2, SVK 0
8:05 Erik Haula (2) - Joel Armia, Eeli Tolvanen
FIN 2, SVK 1
19:30 Tomas Tatar (2) - Martin Fehervary
Shots on goal: SVK 15, FIN 12
Third period
FIN 3, SVK 1
8:27 Roope Hintz (1) - Heiskanen, Tolvanen - PP
FIN 4, SVK 1
9:09 Kaapo Kakko (3) - Unassisted
FIN 5, SVK 1
15:32 Joel Armia (3) - Hintz - EN
FIN 6, SVK 1
18:42 Haula (3) - Armia, Rasmus Ristolainen - EN
Total shots: FIN 35, SVK 31
TBL Player Summary
- Erik Cernak (SVK): 16:55 TOI, 1 SOG.
What’s Next?
The men’s hockey tournament closes at the 2026 Winter Olympics with Sunday’s 8 a.m. gold medal game between Team Canada and Team USA, when Lightning coach Jon Cooper and forward Brandon Hagel will represent Canada against American teammate Jake Guentzel.
