Finland Secures Olympic Bronze in Men’s Ice Hockey, Defeating Slovakia 6-1

Milano Cortina, Italy – Finland claimed the bronze medal in men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, defeating Slovakia 6-1 on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. This marks Finland’s third consecutive Olympic bronze medal with NHL player participation .

Game Recap

The Finns, coming off a heartbreaking semi-final loss to Canada, quickly reset to dominate Slovakia. Sebastian Aho opened the scoring for Finland at 7:27 of the first period, assisted by Artturi Lehkonen and Miro Heiskanen. Erik Haula extended the lead in the second period at 8:05, with assists from Joel Armia and Eeli Tolvanen. Slovakia responded with a goal from Tomas Tatar at 19:30, assisted by Martin Fehervary.

Finland solidified their victory in the third period with goals from Roope Hintz (power play, assisted by Miro Heiskanen and Eeli Tolvanen), Kaapo Kakko (unassisted), and two empty-net goals from Joel Armia (assisted by Roope Hintz) and Erik Haula (assisted by Joel Armia and Rasmus Ristolainen) .

Key Players and Statistics

• Finland: Sebastian Aho, Erik Haula (2 goals), Roope Hintz, Kaapo Kakko, Joel Armia
• Slovakia: Tomas Tatar
• Juuso Saros (Finland) stopped 30 of 31 shots, achieving a .940 save percentage .

Finland’s Olympic Hockey History

This bronze medal is Finland’s eighth Olympic men’s hockey medal and fifth bronze. They previously won bronze medals in 1998, 2010, and 2014, and a silver medal in 2006. Finland won its first gold medal in men’s ice hockey at the 2022 Beijing Olympics .

Slovakia’s Performance

Slovakia was aiming to repeat their 2022 bronze medal performance but fell short against a strong Finnish team. They had previously defeated Finland in the opener and finished atop Group B .

Notable Absences

Mikko Rantanen did not play for Team Finland against Team Slovakia due to a lower-body injury .