Hockey is rolling at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. The men’s tournament began on Wednesday with action from Group B, while the women’s tournament is nearing the end of its group stage. Let’s get caught up on what’s happened so far.

The reigning Olympic MVP opened his second tournament in style.

Juraj Slafkovský powered Slovakia to a 4-1 win over Finland, recording two goals and an assist in a statement performance. The winger opened the scoring in the first period with a strong individual effort and later added a power-play goal in the third to help seal it.

Finland’s lone response came in the second period when Eeli Tolvanen beat Samuel Hlavaj, but that was the only puck to get past the Slovak netminder. The undrafted AHL goaltender was excellent, stopping 38 of 39 shots in the victory.

Top 2023 draft pick Dalibor Dvorský scored early in the third to restore Slovakia’s lead before Slafkovský struck again on the power play. Adam Ružička added an empty-netter for good measure. Juuse Saros made 21 saves on 24 shots in the loss.

The win served as a measure of revenge for Slovakia, which fell 2-0 to Finland in the semifinals at the 2022 Beijing Games. Finland went on to claim gold, while Slovakia defeated Sweden to secure its first-ever Olympic medal in men’s hockey. Just 17 at the time, Slafkovský led that tournament with seven goals in seven games before being selected first overall by the Montréal Canadiens later that year.

There was also a touch of Oilers nostalgia in the matchup. Slovakia’s blue line featured two former Edmonton draft picks from the early Oil Change rebuild years: Martin Marincin (46th overall in 2010) and Martin Gernát (122nd overall in 2011). Gernát picked up an assist on Dvorský’s game-winning goal.

NHL players weren’t the only ones making a return to Olympic ice this year. Team Italy is back in the tournament for the first time since 2006, when the Games were held in Turin.

The host nation, icing a roster built primarily from various European professional leagues, gave medal favourite Sweden a legitimate scare in its preliminary-round opener on Wednesday.

Luca Frigo capitalized on a miscue by goaltender Filip Gustavsson just four minutes into the first period to give Italy a stunning 1-0 lead. Sweden responded with two goals later in the frame to grab control, but Italy refused to fade, tying the game 37 seconds into the second period to make it 2-2.

As the middle frame progressed, the game tightened considerably. Italy grew more confident and began applying sustained pressure, keeping Tre Kronor uncomfortable far longer than expected. For a country that was stunned by Belarus in 2002 on a fluky goal, Sweden had no interest in letting history repeat itself.

With only a few minutes remaining in the period, however, William Nylander restored Sweden’s lead by finishing a slick feed from Rasmus Dahlin, a goal that took some of the momentum out of the building. Sweden added insurance in the third period to secure a 5-2 win. Mika Zibanejad struck with just over four minutes remaining, and Victor Hedman sealed it with an empty-netter.

Italy’s standout was young goaltender Damian Clara, who turned aside 46 of 50 shots before leaving the game with an injury in the third period. In 2023, Clara became the first Italian-born player ever selected by an NHL club when the Anaheim Ducks drafted him 60th overall.

The most shocking result of Olympic hockey thus far came on the women’s side, as the United States hammered rival Canada 5-0 to claim top spot in Group A.

Without captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who sustained a lower-body injury in the previous night’s 5-1 win over Czechia, Canada suffered its worst loss ever at the Olympics and was shut out for the first time in 40 Olympic games since women’s hockey debuted in Nagano in 1998.

At no point was Canada in this game. Caroline Harvey opened the scoring a few minutes into the first period, and Hannah Bilka made it 2-0 before the intermission. Kirsten Simms extended the lead early in the second, Bilka added her second of the night later in the frame, and Laila Edwards capped the scoring midway through the third.

The United States dictated play throughout, outshooting Canada 22-10 after two periods and finishing with a comfortable edge overall. Aerin Frankel needed just 20 saves to secure the shutout.

While Canada remains the defending Olympic gold medalist, the momentum in this rivalry has shifted. The loss marked Canada’s seventh straight defeat to the United States, a run that began at the 2025 World Championship and included a four-game sweep in the 2025-26 Rivalry Series.

With the win, the Americans completed the group stage at a perfect 4-0-0-0. Canada will close out Group A on Thursday with a rescheduled matchup after Finland dealt with a norovirus outbreak. A victory would secure second place and a quarter-final clash with Germany.

Canada’s men’s team will also play its first game of the Olympics on Thursday when they take on Czechia. The other two Group A teams, Switzerland and France, will square off as well, while Group C will open with the United States playing Latvia and Germany facing Denmark.