Finland pulls away from Slovakia to win Olympic bronze medal

Team Finland made sure it didn’t let another two-goal lead slip away by scoring four third-period goals to head home with another Olympic medal in men’s ice hockey.

Erik Haula, Roope Hintz, Kaapo Kakko and Joel Armia scored in the third, and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Finland, which pulled away to defeat Team Slovakia 6-1 in the bronze medal game of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santagiulia Arena in Milan on Saturday.

Haula scored two goals, Armia had three points (one goal, two assists) and Hintz had two points (one goal, one assist) for Finland, which rebounded from a blowing a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to Team Canada in the semifinals on Friday. Miro Heiskanen and Eeli Tolvanen each had two assists.

Forward Mikko Rantanen was scratched for Finland because of a lower-body injury.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Slovakia

Tomas Tatar scored, and Samuel Hlavaj made 29 saves for Slovakia, which lost 6-2 to Team USA in the semifinals on Friday.

Finland won its fifth medal in the six Olympics that have included NHL players (silver in 2006; bronze in 1998, 2010, 2014, 2026), which are the most of any country. Canada (gold in 2002, 2010, 2014) will have the second most with four after it plays the United States in the gold medal game Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).

Finland won its first gold medal in men’s ice hockey at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which did not include NHL players. This is the first Olympics to include NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Games.

Third-seeded Slovakia defeated fourth-seeded Finland 4-1 in each team’s opening game of the Olympics on Feb. 11.

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

Sebastian Aho gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 7:27 of the first period. Hlavaj stopped Heiskanen’s shot from the left point, but Artturi Lehkonen poked the rebound into the crease and Aho knocked in the loose puck for his team-leading fourth goal of the Olympics.

Haula made it 2-0 at 8:05 of the second period. After taking a backhand pass from Armia in the neutral zone, Haula carried the puck over the blue line before letting go a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Hlavaj high to the short side for his second goal of the Olympics.

Saros made 14 saves in the second but was victimized on an unfortunate bounce when Tatar scored to bring Slovakia within 2-1 with 30 seconds remaining in the period. Martin Fehervary’s dump-in from the left point ricocheted off the glass into the left corner and caromed in front to Tatar, who lifted a backhand in over Saros’ left pad for his second goal of the Olympics.

Finland recovered in the third period, though, with Hintz and Kakko scoring 42 seconds apart to increase its lead to 4-1. Hintz deflected Heiskanen’s point shot past Hlavaj for a power-play goal at 8:27 before Kakko beat Hlavaj with a right-circle shot that went in off the far post at 9:09.

Armia (15:32) and Haula (18:42) each added an empty-net goal.