Olympic Hockey 2026 Results, Highlights for Wednesday Groups Ahead Men's KO Bracket

The first shock of the 2026 Winter Olympics men's hockey tournament occurred in the first group-stage game.

Slovakia pulled off a 4-1 upset over Finland to change the dynamic in Group B.

Sweden, the favorite to win Group B, beat host nation Italy, 5-2, in a game that was far more competitive than most people thought it would be.

The other eight nations competing in the men's hockey tournament start play on Thursday, including the United States against Latvia and Canada versus Czechia.

Slovakia 4, Finland 1

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Slovakia pulled off a stunning result, led by Juraj Slafkovsky of the Montreal Canadiens.

Slafkovsky scored a pair of goals, one to open the scoring and the other on the power play in the third period, to help Slovakia upset Finland.

Finland leveled the game early in the second period through Eeli Tolvanen, but that was the only goal it got past Samuel Hlavaj.

Hlavaj, who plays for the Minnesota Wild's AHL affiliate, made 38 saves in the victory.

The loss put Finland in a dire position when it comes to automatic qualification for the quarterfinals. The three group winners and the top second-place team automatically get into the top eight, while the other eight nations participate in a playoff round.

Finland plays Sweden next on Friday, which means it could realistically sit at 0-2 going into the group-stage finale against Italy on Saturday

Slovakia plays Italy on Friday in a game where it is expected to move to 2-0.

Sweden 5, Italy 2

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Sweden finished strong in its win over Italy, but it was on upset alert for the first two periods.

Italy opened the scoring four minutes into the contest, an occurrence that sent shockwaves through the hockey community. Sweden was expected to win by five or six goals.

Italy hung tough with Sweden through two periods, mostly thanks to the tremendous play of Damian Clara in net. Clara left the game in the third period with an injury. Sweden scored twice on backup Davide Fadani.

Sweden pulled away late through goals from Mika Zibanejad and Victor Hedman. Gabriel Landeskog, Gustav Forsling and William Nylander also scored for the Swedes.

Sweden is the clear favorite to win Group B, but it will have to get past an angry Finland team on Friday and a Slovakia side that could challenge for the top spot in the group come Saturday.