Saros, Finland rebound against Sweden following loss in Olympic opener

MILAN -- Team Finland had a historic 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.

It was the first time in five Olympic meetings involving NHL players that Finland has defeated Sweden.

In the process, the picture in Group B of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 was muddied.

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

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.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Sweden

Matinpalo opened the scoring to give Finland a 1-0 lead at 7:44 of the first period with a rising shot from the point. Matinpalo, who was scratched against Finland's opener against Slovakia on Wednesday, has one goal in 75 career NHL games for the Ottawa Senators.

Lundell made it 2-0 at 15:26 of the first, batting a deflected pass from Eetu Luostarinen past Gustavsson. Niko Mikkola earned the secondary assist. Each of those players have won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons with the Florida Panthers.

Dahlin got Sweden within 2-1 with a power-play goal at 4:39 of the second period, hammering a backhand pass from William Nylander past Saros. The Buffalo Sabres defenseman had three assists in Sweden's first game, a 5-2 win against Team Italy on Wednesday.

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

Armia gave Finland a 3-1 lead at 12:47 of the second while killing a penalty. He cruised into the slot unmarked while three Swedish players contested with Erik Haula for puck control along the boards. The puck squirted out to Armia, who flipped it past Gustavsson.

Rantanen scored into an empty net from inside his blue line with 35 seconds remaining in the game to make it 4-1.

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.

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