Canadiens: First Line Duty And Bronze for Kapanen, Disappointment For Slafkovsky

Up until the bronze medal game, Montreal Canadiens’ rookie Oliver Kapanen had not seen a second of action in the Olympic tournament. He was dressed for two games, but he had the best seat in the house as the Finns’ 13th forward, but then Mikko Rantanen was injured in the semifinal. Since the Dallas Stars forward couldn’t play, Kapanen was promoted straight to Finland’s top line alongside Sebastian Aho and former Hab Artturi Lehkonen.

Meanwhile, Juraj Slafkovsky was once again on the Slovaks’ top line with Adam Ruzika and another Hab, Tomas Tatar. With eight points ahead of the final dual, Slafkovsky once again carried the hopes of a country on his young shoulders. The winger had said the Slovaks would be ready and smiling for the bronze medal game and would go out and do it, but the Finns didn’t get the memo.

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After being beaten 4-1 in the preliminary round by the Slovaks, the Finns had revenge on their mind, and Juuse Saros played his best game of the tournament in net, stopping 30 of the 31 shots he received. Unfortunately for the Slovaks, Finland took the lead early and never let up. Sebastian Aho scored less than five minutes in, and Erik Haula doubled their lead just before 30 minutes had been played. They learned from their defeat against Canada and kept pushing.

Tatar scored one for Slovakia before the end of the second frame, but Finland came right back with a couple of goals early in the third frame and added another two in an empty net to take the bronze with a 6-1 win.

While Slafkovsky didn’t get on the scoresheet, he gave his all in this ultimate game, spending almost 24 minutes on the ice, taking five shots on net, and being his usual imposing presence physically. Whenever he had the puck, though, the Finns wasted no time getting on him and not allowing him the time to pick his spot on shots.

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While the big Slovak will no doubt be disappointed to go home empty-handed after winning Bronze four years ago, this tournament showed just how much Slovakia improved in the last four years. Finishing fourth in a tournament with NHL players should be seen as a success. Slafkovsky, Simon Nemec, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Pavol Regenda had a great tournament, and there’s plenty to be proud of.

On an individual standpoint, Slafkovsky is now the second-highest Olympic goal scorer in his country’s history with 11 lamplighters, only three behind Slovakian icon Marian Hossa. With the NHL having committed to participating in the next two Olympic tournaments as well, he should have at least two more tournaments to catch up to him. Furthermore, it doesn’t feel like he’s hit his ceiling yet, and this tournament has allowed him to improve even more. He’ll come back to Montreal better than he ever was.

As for Kapanen, he spent 16:23 on the ice and showed no sign of rust whatsoever despite not having played since the Canadiens’ last game before the break on February 4th against the Winnipeg Jets. He was credited with a single shot, but he hit the post twice, and while those don’t count as shots, he was so very close to finding the back of the net. He was on the ice for Finland’s first goal, right there at the front of the net, creating havoc. He also played on the Finns’ second power play and created a scoring chance. There’s no denying that he made the most of the opportunity he was given in this game, and he showed his country what they missed out on when he stayed on the bench in the other games.

After the game, in the handshake line, Kapanen and Slafkovsky hugged, and there’s no doubt that they’ll be asked what they said to each other in that moment in the days to come, when they return to Montreal and become teammates again.