MILAN (AP) — Juraj Slafkovsky had Slovakia's only two goals four years ago in the first men's hockey game at the Beijing Olympics, a convincing loss to Finland. Slafkovsky again scored twice in the tournament opener.

It’s been a lethargic start to the Olympics for Sweden’s men’s hockey club. As a recap: The Swedes let the Italians, who began the tournament with 100/1 gold medal odds, not only strike first, but settled for a 5-2 victory after spending 60 minutes of fruitless target practice.

Montreal Canadiens' winger Juraj Slafkovsky and Slovakia are top of their group after two games, but their 3-2 win over Italy wasn't a walk in the park. Still, the former first-overall draft pick once again shone brightly.

Slovakia will aim to improve to 3-0 at the Olympics on Saturday when it faces a Sweden team coming off a disappointing loss to rival Finland. After failing to show up on Friday, I’m targeting the Swedes to respond in a big way in my Sweden vs. Slovakia predictions.

They have a tough test the rest of the way, but Slovakia has the pieces in place to go on an unlikely run to the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Adam Ruzicka scored his second goal in as many games and Team Slovakia took sole possession of first place in Group B with a 3-2 win against Team Italy at Rho Arena in Milan on Friday. Libor Hudacek and Matus Sukel also scored,

A man who was wanted by Italian authorities for a series of 2010 thefts was arrested when he arrived at the Olympics on Wednesday.