The preliminary round of men’s hockey at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics is drawing to a close, and the offense rained in Italy on Saturday as teams chase positioning for the quarterfinals and qualification rounds.
Tampa Bay Lightning players filled the scoresheets of numerous games throughout the day—Jake Guentzel scored the crucial 5-3 goal in Team USA’s win over Denmark, Victor Hedman earned his first career Olympic assist in Team Sweden’s win over Slovakia and Zemgus Girgensons co-led Latvia on offense in their victory.
The next phase of competition has begun to take shape, as Erik Cernak and Slovakia locked in one of the byes to the quarterfinals by winning Group B despite the loss to Sweden. Team USA and Canada also continue their battle for the top seed in the tournament after Saturday.
SWEDEN 5, SLOVAKIA 3
Lightning captain Victor Hedman earned his first career Olympic assist to help Team Sweden beat Team Slovakia early Saturday, but tiebreakers allowed Slovakia to win Group B in the preliminary round.
Joel Eriksson Ek opened the scoring 7:17 into the game while shorthanded to make it 1-0 Sweden, but Juraj Slafkovsky tied the game for the Slovaks just over a minute later.
An Adrian Kempe power-play goal in the second period was offset by another quick response by Slovakia, this one from Martin Gernat 2:42 later to tie the game 2-2, but Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson put Sweden ahead for good late in the middle frame.
Pettersson then scored again 7:57 into the third period with a one-timer to make it 4-2, and Lucas Raymond added to the lead for a 5-2 score for Sweden.
Slovakia’s closing score came with 39 seconds remaining off the stick of Dalibor Dvorsky on the power play at the right post. Despite it coming in a losing effort, the goal wound up winning Slovakia Pool B and a bye to the quarterfinals—Sweden, Slovakia and Finland all split two wins and six points in the pool, so the next tiebreaker goes to the team with the best goal differential in games between those three teams. Slovakia is that team thanks to the late Dvorsky goal.
Hedman now has a goal and one assist through three games for Team Sweden. Lightning teammate Erik Cernak was again busy for Slovakia, playing just over 18 minutes against Hedman and Pontus Holmberg to help Slovakia win the group.
Scoring Summary
First period
SWE 1, SVK 0
7:17 Joel Eriksson Ek (1) - Adrian Kempe - SH
SWE 1, SVK 1
8:59 Juraj Slafkovsky (3) - Simon Nemec, Martin Gernat
Shots on goal: SWE 13, SVK 13
Second period
SWE 2, SVK 1
7:06 Kempe (1) - Rasmus Dahlin, Lucas Raymond - PP
SWE 2, SVK 2
9:48 Gernat (1) - Peter Ceresnak, Adam Ruzicka
SWE 3, SVK 2
14:29 Elias Pettersson (1) - Filip Forsberg, Victor Hedman
Shots on goal: SWE 16, SVK 12
Third period
SWE 4, SVK 2
7:57 Pettersson (2) - Raymond, Erik Karlsson
SWE 5, SVK 2
11:38 Raymond (1) - Mika Zibanejad, Karlsson
SWE 5, SVK 3
19:21 Dalibor Dvorsky (2) - Slafkovsky, Ceresnak - PP
Total shots: SWE 51, SVK 32
TBL Player Summary
- Victor Hedman (SWE): Assist, 19:22 TOI, 2 SOG, +1.
- Pontus Holmberg (SWE): 7:00 TOI.
- Erik Cernak (SVK): 18:03 TOI, 1 SOG, 2 PIM.
LATVIA 4, GERMANY 3
Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons has played a key role for Team Latvia all tournament, and he did so once again to help his team earn their first win on Saturday over Team Germany.
Girgensons earned two assists to co-lead the Latvians in scoring in the win, one that saw Latvia overcome a pair of early one-goal deficits.
Lukas Reichel put Germany ahead just 2:06 into the game, but Girgensons then made a great cross-ice pass to Dans Locmelis on the power play to tie the score with 4:12 left in the opening period.
Germany retook the lead before the end of the first period, but Locmelis again tied the game with the lone goal of the second period. Girgensons then earned his second point of the day with the primary assist on a 3-2 goal from Eduards Tralmaks, and Latvia added to its lead with 9:23 remaining.
Tim Stützle drew Germany within a goal of the tie late, but Latvia held on for the win.
Latvia is now 1-0-0-1 at the Olympics, and Girgensons co-leads the team in scoring with three points.
Scoring Summary
First period
GER 1, LAT 0
2:06 Lukas Reichel (1) - Dominik Kahun, Lukas Kälble
GER 1, LAT 1
15:48 Dans Locmelis (1) - Zemgus Girgensons, Renars Krastenbergs - PP
GER 2, LAT 1
16:56 Kälble (1) - Frederik Tiffels
Shots on goal: LAT 11, GER 7
Second period
GER 2, LAT 2
8:02 Locmelis (2) - Rudolfs Balcers, Uvis Balinskis - PP
Shots on goal: GER 13, LAT 7
Third period
LAT 3, GER 2
8:32 Eduards Tralmaks (1) - Girgensons, Janis Jaks
LAT 4, GER 2
11:37 Krastenbergs (2) - Kaspars Daugavins, Alberts Smits
LAT 4, GER 3
17:41 Stützle (3) - Leon Draisaitl, JJ Peterka
Total shots: GER 29, LAT 22
TBL Player Summary
- Zemgus Girgensons (LAT): 2 assists, 23:21 TOI.
- Wojciech Stachowiak (GER): 4:48 TOI, 2 PIM, +1.
FINLAND 11, ITALY 0
Finland made quick work of the Olympic hosts on Saturday and led 6-0 through 40 minutes of hockey in a game that did not feature any ties to the Lightning.
Seven different players scored goals, and 12 different players finished with multiple points for Finland. Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros finished with the 15-save shutout.
Kaapo Kakko led Finland with two goals and one assist, while Mikko Rantanen (0-3–3) and Artturi Lehkonen (1-2–3) also had three points.
Finland is now 2-0-0-1 and can still earn the final bye through to the quarterfinal round. That goes to the fourth-best team from the preliminary round, and Finland’s +11 goal differential and two wins puts them in strong position.
Scoring Summary
First period
FIN 1, ITA 0
6:49 Sebastian Aho (1) - Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen
FIN 2, ITA 0
9:31 Mikael Granlund (1) - Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen - PP
FIN 3, ITA 0
10:18 Kaapo Kakko (1) - Niko Mikkola, Rasmus Ristolainen
Shots on goal: FIN 13, ITA 2
Second period
FIN 4, ITA 0
4:04 Joel Kiviranta (1) - Mikkola, Ristolainen
FIN 5, ITA 0
7:39 Kakko (2) - Eetu Luostarinen
FIN 6, ITA 0
17:36 Granlund (2) - Kakko, Luostarinen
Shots on goal: FIN 25, ITA 6
Third period
FIN 7, ITA 0
1:01 Heiskanen (1) - Rantanen - PP
FIN 8, ITA 0
1:34 Lehkonen (1) - Teuvo Teravainen
FIN 9, ITA 0
3:43 Aho (2) - Lehkonen, Henri Jokiharju
FIN 10, ITA 0
13:26 Joel Armia (2) - Erik Haula
FIN 11, ITA 0
17:13 Kiviranta (2) - Armia, Haula
Total shots: FIN 62, ITA 15
USA 6, DENMARK 3
Lightning forward Jake Guentzel added the insurance goal on a one-timer in the third period for his first point of this Olympics, and Team USA remained undefeated with their 6-3 win over Oliver Bjorkstrand and Team Denmark.
Denmark got the first goal of the game on a redirection that went in off the skate of a USA defender, but Matt Boldy tied the score at 1-1 just a few minutes later with a wraparound chance.
Denmark reclaimed its lead 11:16 into the game with a shot from center ice by Nicholas Jensen. Brady Tkachuk found the tying goal midway through the second period, accepting a won faceoff in the offensive zone before beating Denmark goalie Mads Sogaard.
Less than a minute later, Jack Eichel scored into the top right corner on another won faceoff to grab USA's first lead of the game. One of his teammates, defenseman Noah Hanifin, added to that lead with 2:37 left in the period—Hanifin’s initial shot was blocked, but he recollected the puck and fired again from the left circle to beat Sogaard for the 4-2 goal.
Denmark was able to cut back into their deficit when a shot from the right point went in off the goalpost with only three seconds remaining in the second period.
That’s when Guentzel made the most of his chance, finding open ice and burying a pass from captain Auston Matthews with a one-timer through Sogaard’s glove 7:24 into the third period from the left circle. Jack Hughes closed the scoring by banking the puck off of goalie Frederik Dichow’s leg pad as he skated behind the net for the 6-3 final.
Guentzel’s goal was the first of his career at the Olympics. He finished with 16 minutes played, while Bjorkstrand skated 17:21 for Denmark.
Scoring Summary
First period
DEN 1, USA 0
1:40 Nick Olesen (1) - Oscar Fisker Molgaard
DEN 1, USA 1
3:35 Matt Boldy (1) - Quinn Hughes, Jaccob Slavin
DEN 2, USA 1
11:16 Nicholas Jensen (1) - Malte Setkov
Shots on goal: USA 13, DEN 7
Second period
DEN 2, USA 2
9:26 Brady Tkachuk (2) - Jack Eichel
USA 3, DEN 2
10:23 Eichel (1) - Unassisted
USA 4, DEN 2
17:23 Noah Hanifin (1) - Vincent Trocheck, Brock Faber
USA 4, DEN 3
19:57 Phillip Bruggiser (1) - Nikolaj Ehlers, Alexander True
Shots on goal: USA 15, DEN 3
Third period
USA 5, DEN 3
7:24 Jake Guentzel (1) - Auston Matthews, Werenski
USA 6, DEN 3
14:27 Jack Hughes (1) - Brock Nelson
Total shots: USA 47, DEN 21
TBL Player Summary
- Jake Guentzel (USA): Goal, 16:00 TOI, 2 SOG, +1.
- Oliver Bjorkstrand (DEN): 17:21 TOI.
What’s Next?
The final day of preliminary hockey awaits on Sunday, and there are implications at hand.
Switzerland and Lightning defenseman JJ Moser will face Czechia in the lone 6 a.m. game of the day before Brandon Hagel and Team Canada play France at 10:30 a.m. Canada sits atop Group A with two wins.
Girgensons and Bjorkstrand will go head-to-head when Latvia and Denmark play at 1 p.m., and the day concludes with Team USA and Guentzel taking on Stachowiak and Germany at 3 p.m.
Team USA can lock in a Group C win and a bye to the quarterfinals with any outcome other than a regulation loss to Germany. Both USA and Canada are fighting for the top seed entering the quarterfinals, with the tiebreaker going to the team with the best goal differential if both remain undefeated in regulation.
The eight teams that don’t receive byes will compete in the qualification playoff round that begins next Tuesday, with the four winners advancing to the quarterfinals to compete against those that earned a bye.
