Sweden struggled to put host Italy away but ultimately pulled off a 5-2 victory at the 2026 Olympic men's hockey tournament in Milan.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
A feisty Italian team hung tough with favoured Sweden deep into the third period before falling 5-2 as the 2026 Olympic men’s hockey tournament got underway on Wednesday.
Italian starting goalie Damien Clara, a 2023 second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks, stood tall – both figuratively and literally at 197 cm and 97 kg – to keep it close with his dazzling play as Sweden outshot Italy 60-22. Due to injury, the 21-year-old was replaced by backup Davide Fadani with under 14 minutes to play.
"Usually 60 shots is enough," said Swedish forward Lucas Raymond.
For Sweden, Mika Zibanejad and Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist apiece, and captain Gabriel Landeskog, William Nylander, and Victor Hedman also scored for Sweden. Rasmus Dahlin picked up three helpers.
The Swedes are questing for their first Olympic title in 20 years and third all-time (1994, 2006). Goalie Filip Gustavsson recorded his first Olympic win despite shaky moments.
Luca Frigo and Matt Bradley replied for Italy. The underdog Italians stunningly led 1-0 less than five minutes in and achieved a 2-2 tie for more than 16 minutes in the second period. Far behind Sweden in the skills department, Italy compensated with a gritty work ethic and opportunism.
"Our goalie played a hell of a game," Italian forward Diego Kostner said of Clara. "He kept us in the game. The only way we have a chance to win is to accept that we have to play good defence. Sure, they outshot us and outchanced us, but it's the only way we can play, and we did it well today."
Jukka Jalonen made a creditable debut behind the Italian bench in Olympic competition. Jalonen, 63, coached Finland to the 2022 Olympic gold medal in Beijing and also guided his native land to three IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship gold medals.
It was the first Olympic meeting in 32 years between these nations. The Swedes currently sit fourth in the IIHF Men's World Ranking and the Italians 18th. Twelve members of this Italian roster are naturalized players born outside Italy, mostly in North America.
There was pre-game speculation around the health status of Nylander, but the Toronto Maple Leafs ace suited up on a line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Adrian Kempe.
The Italians came out with passion and physicality, buoyed by boisterous chants at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. They got an unbelievable break to open the scoring at 4:14. Gustavsson dropped to his knees to play a shoot-in with his goal stick, but then lost the stick as he tried to poke away the loose puck, and Frigo streaked in to bang it home unassisted.
A couple of minutes later, Elias Pettersson got loose on the left side and almost completed a wraparound into a gaping cage as Clara was caught out challenging. However, Italian defender Daniel Giura got a piece of the Vancouver Canucks star at Clara's left post and the puck stayed out.
Landeskog drew Sweden even at 9:06 with a one-timer blast just before the end of his team’s first power play. The 33-year-old Colorado Avalanche captain is playing his first NHL season since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. He missed three years while rehabbing a knee injury. Landeskog also bounced back from an upper-body injury suffered in early January just in time to make it to Milan.
Forsling gave Tre Kronor its first lead at 17:53 with a slap shot from the left side that whizzed past Clara’s stick. First-period shots were 27-3 Sweden.
The Italians capitalized on a bad Swedish line change to tie the game up just 0:37 into the second period. Dustlin Gazley looped behind Sweden's net and centred it to Matt Bradley, whose hard shot squeezed past Gustavsson. The Azzurri were hanging in there with two goals on just four shots.
At 16:56, Nylander finally made it 3-2, backhanding in a rebound from Rasmus Dahlin's charge to the Italian net. It was Sweden's 41st shot on goal.
Frustrations bubbled over as Kempe and Italian forward Cristiano DiGiacinto squabbled behind Clara's net in the final minute of the middle frame.
"We knew they’d try to get us off balance, and they played physical," Kempe said. "But I think we answered that pretty well."
Early in the third period, Pettersson was unable to convert a shorthanded breakaway as Clara stuck his right leg out to deny the forehand deke. It was on this play that the Italian netminder hurt himself and he came out of the game a few minutes later.
The Italians came awfully close to equalizing about halfway through the third when Gustavsson robbed Daniel Mantenuto on a rebound opportunity on the doorstep.
With 4:18 left, Zibanejad finally gave Sweden some breathing room at 4-2, lofting a wrister past Fadani with Pettersson screening in front. Hedman added an empty-netter at 17:11.
"We got a little too careful when things didn’t go according to our plan early on, but I think it was good for us to get this under our belt," said Swedish assistant captain Erik Karlsson. "Italy is a strong skating team and got some lucky bounces, and we started to think too much out there."
Kostner praised Jalonen's coaching: "He's a coach with a lot of experience internationally with Finland. I think it's good for us to have a coach like him. He brings calm and we play a good system, which is what we need."
In Italy's last Olympic appearance as the host nation in Turin 2006, it was outscored 23-9 over five games. In the “that would never happen today” category, the Italians earned 3-3 ties with both Germany and Switzerland. (2005-06 was the last season IIHF hockey included ties.) Italy lost to the Canadians, Finns and Czechs and did not make the medal round.
Sweden enjoys a perfect 5-0 Olympic record versus Italy. The last four wins were 23-0 (1948), 11-1 (1984), 7-3 (1992), and 4-1 (1994). In the latter matchup, defenceman Fredrik Stillman scored the winner on a Hakan Loob set-up late in the second period. Sweden marched on to its first Olympic gold medal ever in Lillehammer, Norway.
Sweden’s last Olympic game with a full NHL roster was the 3-0 gold medal game loss to Canada in 2014. Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, and Chris Kunitz scored on Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist, a 2025 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee. Tre Kronor hopes for a happier ending in 2026.
Italian starting goalie Damien Clara, a 2023 second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks, stood tall – both figuratively and literally at 197 cm and 97 kg – to keep it close with his dazzling play as Sweden outshot Italy 60-22. Due to injury, the 21-year-old was replaced by backup Davide Fadani with under 14 minutes to play.
"Usually 60 shots is enough," said Swedish forward Lucas Raymond.
For Sweden, Mika Zibanejad and Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist apiece, and captain Gabriel Landeskog, William Nylander, and Victor Hedman also scored for Sweden. Rasmus Dahlin picked up three helpers.
The Swedes are questing for their first Olympic title in 20 years and third all-time (1994, 2006). Goalie Filip Gustavsson recorded his first Olympic win despite shaky moments.
Luca Frigo and Matt Bradley replied for Italy. The underdog Italians stunningly led 1-0 less than five minutes in and achieved a 2-2 tie for more than 16 minutes in the second period. Far behind Sweden in the skills department, Italy compensated with a gritty work ethic and opportunism.
"Our goalie played a hell of a game," Italian forward Diego Kostner said of Clara. "He kept us in the game. The only way we have a chance to win is to accept that we have to play good defence. Sure, they outshot us and outchanced us, but it's the only way we can play, and we did it well today."
Jukka Jalonen made a creditable debut behind the Italian bench in Olympic competition. Jalonen, 63, coached Finland to the 2022 Olympic gold medal in Beijing and also guided his native land to three IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship gold medals.
It was the first Olympic meeting in 32 years between these nations. The Swedes currently sit fourth in the IIHF Men's World Ranking and the Italians 18th. Twelve members of this Italian roster are naturalized players born outside Italy, mostly in North America.
There was pre-game speculation around the health status of Nylander, but the Toronto Maple Leafs ace suited up on a line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Adrian Kempe.
The Italians came out with passion and physicality, buoyed by boisterous chants at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. They got an unbelievable break to open the scoring at 4:14. Gustavsson dropped to his knees to play a shoot-in with his goal stick, but then lost the stick as he tried to poke away the loose puck, and Frigo streaked in to bang it home unassisted.
A couple of minutes later, Elias Pettersson got loose on the left side and almost completed a wraparound into a gaping cage as Clara was caught out challenging. However, Italian defender Daniel Giura got a piece of the Vancouver Canucks star at Clara's left post and the puck stayed out.
Landeskog drew Sweden even at 9:06 with a one-timer blast just before the end of his team’s first power play. The 33-year-old Colorado Avalanche captain is playing his first NHL season since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. He missed three years while rehabbing a knee injury. Landeskog also bounced back from an upper-body injury suffered in early January just in time to make it to Milan.
Forsling gave Tre Kronor its first lead at 17:53 with a slap shot from the left side that whizzed past Clara’s stick. First-period shots were 27-3 Sweden.
The Italians capitalized on a bad Swedish line change to tie the game up just 0:37 into the second period. Dustlin Gazley looped behind Sweden's net and centred it to Matt Bradley, whose hard shot squeezed past Gustavsson. The Azzurri were hanging in there with two goals on just four shots.
At 16:56, Nylander finally made it 3-2, backhanding in a rebound from Rasmus Dahlin's charge to the Italian net. It was Sweden's 41st shot on goal.
Frustrations bubbled over as Kempe and Italian forward Cristiano DiGiacinto squabbled behind Clara's net in the final minute of the middle frame.
"We knew they’d try to get us off balance, and they played physical," Kempe said. "But I think we answered that pretty well."
Early in the third period, Pettersson was unable to convert a shorthanded breakaway as Clara stuck his right leg out to deny the forehand deke. It was on this play that the Italian netminder hurt himself and he came out of the game a few minutes later.
The Italians came awfully close to equalizing about halfway through the third when Gustavsson robbed Daniel Mantenuto on a rebound opportunity on the doorstep.
With 4:18 left, Zibanejad finally gave Sweden some breathing room at 4-2, lofting a wrister past Fadani with Pettersson screening in front. Hedman added an empty-netter at 17:11.
"We got a little too careful when things didn’t go according to our plan early on, but I think it was good for us to get this under our belt," said Swedish assistant captain Erik Karlsson. "Italy is a strong skating team and got some lucky bounces, and we started to think too much out there."
Kostner praised Jalonen's coaching: "He's a coach with a lot of experience internationally with Finland. I think it's good for us to have a coach like him. He brings calm and we play a good system, which is what we need."
In Italy's last Olympic appearance as the host nation in Turin 2006, it was outscored 23-9 over five games. In the “that would never happen today” category, the Italians earned 3-3 ties with both Germany and Switzerland. (2005-06 was the last season IIHF hockey included ties.) Italy lost to the Canadians, Finns and Czechs and did not make the medal round.
Sweden enjoys a perfect 5-0 Olympic record versus Italy. The last four wins were 23-0 (1948), 11-1 (1984), 7-3 (1992), and 4-1 (1994). In the latter matchup, defenceman Fredrik Stillman scored the winner on a Hakan Loob set-up late in the second period. Sweden marched on to its first Olympic gold medal ever in Lillehammer, Norway.
Sweden’s last Olympic game with a full NHL roster was the 3-0 gold medal game loss to Canada in 2014. Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, and Chris Kunitz scored on Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist, a 2025 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee. Tre Kronor hopes for a happier ending in 2026.
Sweden vs Itlay - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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