Finland medaled in their second straight Winter Olympics men's hockey tournament and in seven of the last nine occasions. It was their fourth consecutive Winter Olympics medal with National Hockey League players participating. They captured the gold medal back in 2022 in Beijing, China. Slovakia won their first men's hockey medal ever picking up the bronze medal four years ago.
In the first period, Team Finland flew out to a 1-0 lead at 7:27 of the first period. Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho collected his fourth goal of the tournament as he swept in a shot from the blue paint.
It became 2-0 for Team Finland at the 8:05 mark of the second period. One-time Florida Panthers left wing Erik Haula released a wrist shot from the right wing.
Team Slovakia capitalized on a bad bounce off the end wall. Former NHL player Tomas Tatar scored on a backhand shot from the crease area with 29.2 seconds remaining in the second and cut it to 2-1.
Team Finland extended their lead to 3-1 at 8:27 of the third period. Dallas Stars left wing Roope Hintz redirected a shot at the top of the crease.
They would make it 4-1 just 42 seconds later. Seattle Kraken right wing Kaapo Kakko snapped a shot from the right-circle dot. Los Angeles Kings right wing Joel Armia added an empty-net goal from the neutral zone with 4:28 left for a 5-1 lead. Haula score a tally into an empty net from the inner left circle for his second goal of the contest with 1:18 to go for a four-goal margin.
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