The Olympic Games for men’s hockey finally got underway with the first Colorado Avalanche participants. They played for Team Finland and Team Sweden on Wednesday.

Both Nordic teams were challenged from the get-go in Milan. However, one team fared much better than the other.

Finland vs. Slovakia

Both Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta played for the Fins in the opening game, taking place in the morning. However, Finland struggled and was upset by Team Slovakia 4–1.

However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Avs fans tuning in to their players on the world stage. Lehkonen earned the secondary assist on Finland’s only goal of the game.

The Seattle Kraken’s Eeli Tolvanen was the recipient of the goal, with Joel Armia from the Los Angeles Kings getting the other assist. Kiviranta recorded no time on ice in this game as the 13th forward.


But both he and Lehkonen got to play with old friend Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen, now with the Dallas Stars, was also kept quiet and a -2 with only 15 minutes played. Finland sits bottom of Group B, already behind the eight-ball in the group stage.

Sweden vs. Italy

The host country for the games jumped out to a surprising lead and was seemingly on the way to shocking the world. Team Italy held its ground for the first 40 minutes, with a home crowd rallying behind it.

But Gabriel Landeskog had other things to say.

His first game back in action since being injured against the Florida Panthers in early January was eventful. On his first shift of the game, he slammed an Italian defender hard into the boards to set the tone.


The Swedish captain scored the opening goal on the power play. It was the lone power play of the afternoon for Sweden, and they took advantage. For Landeskog, it was a big moment to score for his country at the Olympics for the first time, as he told Adrian Hernandez.

New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson also tallied assists on the goal. They were challenged by Italy’s netminder, Anaheim Ducks prospect Damian Clara, who was stellar to keep his country in it.

Unfortunately for him, he was forced out of the game through injury, and Sweden pulled away with a 5–2 win. Both games, though, made for a good start to the games.

Up Next

Three more games take place on Thursday, with two of them hosting Avs players. Martin Necas and Team Czechia will have a tough first game against Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, and Cale Makar for Team Canada. They’ll get underway at 8:40 a.m. MT.

After them, Brock Nelson and Team USA will represent the stars and stripes for their first game at 1:10 p.m. MT. They’ll play a sneaky Team Latvia side to wrap up Thursday’s action.