Slovakia wins first Olympic hockey medal for men after beating Sweden
Shades of 2015, anyone?
For the first time in the team’s history, Slovakia won a medal in the Winter Olympics and beat Sweden 4-0 for the bronze on Saturday.
It is the first men’s medal in a major international tournament for Slovakia since he won silver in the 2012 World Cup. Ten years earlier, Slovakia won gold in the same tournament.
Slovakia’s latest medal at junior WC level also came against Sweden, a bronze medal in Canada in 2015.
Sweden has not yet won a medal since finishing second in Sochi eight years ago. Sweden’s last bronze was in 1988 after three tournaments as the third best team.
Juraj Slafkovsky, a top-10 forecast for the 2022 draft NHL, scored 23:17 to break a deadlock. It was his sixth goal in the tournament, good for first in the tournament before Sweden’s Lucas Wallmark.
Nine minutes later, veteran Samuel Takac scored on the veteran to double the advantage, which forced Sweden to catch up the rest of the way. Unfortunately for Tre Kronor, the third period was dominated by Slovakia, highlighted by another goal for Slafkovsky for the 3-0 goal and one from Pavol Regenda to 4-0.