Saros, Finland rebound against Sweden following loss in Olympic opener

MILAN -- Team Finland returned to its DNA in an emotional victory against Team Sweden in the latest installment of one of hockey's most bitter international rivalries, winning 4-1 at Santagiulia Arena on Friday.

The blueprint delivered Finland its second win against Sweden in five Olympic meetings involving NHL players, the first since 1998 in Nagano.

"Identity game, I felt like," said Finland forward Erik Haula, who assisted on the back-breaking short-handed goal by Joel Armia in the second period.

It also muddied the picture in Group B of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Juuse Saros made 34 saves for Finland (1-0-1-0), and Nikolas Matinpalo, Anton Lundell, Armia and Mikko Rantanen scored.

"It is a good formula for sure, and everyone looked good today," Saros said. "If we want to succeed in this tournament, we just have to keep building from here."

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Sweden

Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal and Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves for Sweden (1-0-1-0), which lost a preliminary round game involving NHL players for the first time in eight outings, dating to a 3-0 loss to Slovakia in Turin 20 years ago. Sweden defeated Finland in the gold-medal game a week later.

Dahlin, a defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres, had three assists in Sweden's first game, a 5-2 win against Team Italy on Wednesday.

"They defend hard, they are well coached and we knew it wasn't going to be easy," Sweden captain Gabriel Landeskog said of Finland.

This game turned on the goal by Armia at 12.47 of the second period. A 2-0 lead, built on first-period goals by Mantipalo (7:44) and Lundell (15:26), was in peril. Dahlin scored at 4:39 of the second to make it 2-1 and the Swedes had another power play when Kaapo Kakko took a holding penalty at 11:03.

The momentum was with the Swedes.

Until it wasn't, thanks to a play that illustrates the workman-like foundation of the Finnish game.

The puck was in Sweden's end. Haula went to pin it along the boards to bleed time, drawing three Swedish players, each trying feverishly to dislodge the puck and get back on the attack.

"I'm just trying to play time honestly, body position, eat the clock and then the play happens," Haula said.

The puck squirted out and there was Armia, unmarked, with many players tied up along the boards. He swooped in and flipped the puck past Gustavsson for a 3-1 lead.

"I think Haula played it really well, drawing in all the guys there," Armia said. "I just found a good spot there, a good spot for being defensive if it doesn't pop out, but it did."

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

In that moment, the game was over. Yes, there were more than 27 minutes remaining, but Sweden was wobbled.

"We score on the power play, we get another [power play] and we are on our way back," Sweden coach Sam Hallam said. "Instead, they score on their PK. After the game -- didn't know it then -- it feels like that is where this game was decided."

There were two more penalties for Finland to kill after that. For the game, they went
5-for-6 on the kill.

Rantanen scored an empty-net goal for the 4-1 final at 19:25 of the third.

Team Finland got depth scoring, including a goal from Mantinpalo, who was a healthy scratch Wednesday.

"We don't care who scores," said the Ottawa Senators defenseman, who has one goal in 75 career NHL games. "Everybody wants to play for, how you say, the logo. Everyone wants to play hard and play good defense."

Saros also bounced back after a shaky outing in a 4-1 loss to Slovakia on Wednesday.

"I felt good from the start and the defense did a good job in front of me keeping my job simple," he said.

Now, all is to play for Saturday.

Sweden finishes Group B play against Slovakia (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, ICI TOU.TV, CBC Gem, SN, RDS). Finland plays Italy in its final preliminary-round game (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN, CBC).

Slovakia (2-0-0-0), which beat Italy, 3-2, on Friday, leads the group with six points. Sweden and Finland each have three points. Italy (0-0-2-0) is fourth.

The top team in each of the three groups and the second-place team with the most points advance directly to the quarterfinals. The other eight teams play in a qualification round on Tuesday.