Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson Scores Twice Against Slovakia as Sweden Wins 5-3

Elias Pettersson finally found his scoring touch at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, scoring twice in Sweden's 5-3 victory over Slovakia on Saturday. The Vancouver Canucks center had faced criticism entering the tournament after a difficult NHL season.

He answered with goals at 14:29 of the second period and 7:57 of the third period to help Sweden dominate at Santagiulia Arena. Lucas Raymond led all scorers with three points on a goal and two assists. Adrian Kempe added a goal and an assist, while Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves in his first start of the tournament.

Slovakia suffers its first defeat after getting back-to-back wins at Milan

Joel Eriksson Ek gave Sweden a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at 7:17 of the first period. He broke up a play inside his own blue line and created a two-on-one with Kempe before jamming home the rebound after Samuel Hlavaj made the initial save.

Juraj Slafkovsky tied it 1-1 at 8:59 with his third goal in as many games. The Montreal Canadiens forward has been Slovakia's most dangerous offensive weapon throughout the preliminary round.

Kempe restored Sweden's lead early in the second period with a power-play one-timer just five seconds into the man advantage. Martin Gernat pulled Slovakia even at 2-2 before Pettersson broke the tie for good. Filip Forsberg found Pettersson in the left faceoff circle at 14:29 of the second period.

The Canucks center fired the puck through Hlavaj's five-hole to make it 3-2 and give Sweden control of the game. Raymond set up Pettersson's second goal with a beautiful cross-ice pass in the third period. The play made it 4-2 and effectively sealed the victory for Sweden.

Raymond then added his own highlight-reel goal at 11:38, turning defender Simon Nemec inside out before beating Hlavaj in tight to make it 5-2. Dalibor Dvorsky scored a late power-play goal with 39 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Sweden outshot Slovakia 51-32, but both teams finished preliminary round play with identical 2-0-1-0 records and six points. Slovakia won Group B based on goal differential and earned a bye directly into the quarterfinals.

Sweden will enter the qualification playoff round on Tuesday seeking to advance to the quarterfinals. The victory provides momentum after Friday's disappointing 4-1 loss to Finland threatened to derail their tournament.


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