It was a shocking opening day for the Olympic men’s hockey tournament, with Slovakia upsetting Finland and then Italy making their game against Sweden surprisingly competitive. Although the scoreline read 5-2, this game was either tied or a one-goal game until there were just five minutes left in the game.
Sweden dominated through their play, outshooting Italy 60-22, but the scoreline was never comfortable as the Swedes struggled to find the back of the net.
Here are my takeaways from this bizarre game.
Damian Clara With One of the Best Goaltending Performances I’ve Seen
Damian Clara was a second-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks back in the 2023 Draft. Since he was drafted, he’s appeared in just two American Hockey League (AHL) games and has played this season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with Brynas IF Gavle.
He was absolutely unbelievable tonight. Through the opening 20 minutes, Clara faced a staggering 27 shots and saved 25 of them. He didn’t have a chance on either of the goals, with Gabriel Landeskog scoring on a knuckleball one-timer and Gustav Forsling unloading a bomb of a slap shot through a screen to take the lead.
He eventually needed to leave the game in the third period after a great breakaway save on , where he had to go full stretch. Before being replaced by Davide Fadani, Clara made 46 saves on 49 shots.
Questionable Sweden Lineup Decision
Something that stood out to me was Sweden’s decision to play Pontus Holmberg over Filip Forsberg. I understand that you may want a defensively focused line that Holmberg can play on, but Forsberg is an elite winger that they essentially left off the team. It is especially questionable considering Italy should’ve been a team that doesn’t cause you much trouble in your own end.
Forsberg got into one shift early in the first period, where he coughed up the puck and gave Italy a two-on-one from the blue line in. It was an ugly giveaway, but it was shocking to me that the 1:07 long shift in the first period was the last we saw of Forsberg.
Holmberg also took a bad holding penalty in the neutral zone during the third period and wasn’t very effective.
Sweden’s First Line Shines
The Adrian Kempe – Joel Eriksson Ek – William Nylander line was far and away the best line on the ice. Eriksson Ek had nine shots and walked away without a goal when he probably should’ve had a hat trick.
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Nylander was flying, which is encouraging for Sweden after he missed practice, and there were questions surrounding whether he would even play tonight. In the end, Nylander scored the game-winning goal (although Rasmus Dahlin did most of the work). Kempe played well and collected an assist on Nylander’s goal.
Italy With a Surprising Amount of Scoring Chances
Italy got caved in tonight, there’s no other way to put it, but they still surprised me with how many chances they got.
Sweden mismanaged the puck too often around the Italian blue line, which allowed Italy to generate numerous odd-man rushes and opportunities off the rush. Sweden was also careless at times with the puck in the defensive zone, which gave Italy chances to stay in the game.
I’m not sure Italy will stay competitive in every game this tournament, but this was an impressive performance nonetheless.
Sweden Goaltending Controversy?
Filip Gustavsson had a rough game tonight. He allowed two goals on the first four shots and was at fault for the first goal. The second goal was another soft goal he probably should’ve stopped, but there was a defensive breakdown involved.
He did make 16 straight stops after the rough start, including robbing Daniel Mantenuto in the middle of the third period, which would’ve tied the game at 3-3.
Although he finished the game off strong, there wasn’t a clear starter for Sweden heading into the tournament, to me.
Jacob Markstrom was the backup today, but I would’ve liked to see Jesper Wallstedt either get the start or, at the very least, backup Gustavsson instead of Markstrom. It’ll be interesting to see what direction Sweden moves in for their next game against Finland on Friday.
