MILAN – Juraj Slafkovský said he had never celebrated so much after a loss.
He and the rest of his Slovak teammates had good reason to, after a late power-play goal from Dalibor Dvorsky put Slovakia in position to clinch Group B in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament despite a 5-3 loss to Sweden on Saturday afternoon at Santagiulia Arena.
If Finland beats Italy in regulation Saturday, Slovakia’s goal differential (+1) would push the tiebreaker in its favor and send the team straight to the quarterfinal.
Any other result would put Team Sweden at the top, after they played one of their better games of the tournament so far against Slovakia.
Many expected the podium to shake out a certain way – with Canada, the United States and Sweden entering as favorites – but players in the tournament have repeatedly maintained that anything can happen on the Olympic stage.
The Slovaks were certainly in the bubble conversation, but they have been a tough opponent with a 2-1 record through group play.
Saturday’s performance may have punctuated a strong start to the tournament.
“It’s a pleasure to battle one for another,” Martin Fehérváry said.
“I think it’s really important to be as one team, especially for a team like us. We don’t have as big names like Sweden or like Canada, right? But we got SlafGOALsky.”