Men's hockey at the Olympics got underway this morning as Finland faced Slovakia in the first game. Going into the game, Slovakia was an underdog against Finland, a powerhouse. Even though Finland had a team made up mostly of NHL players, Latvia pulled off the 4-1 upset this morning. What an amazing hockey game that ended in an upset that no one saw coming. I don't know who was more floored about the loss, Sam Nestler or Michael Dixon.
Finland is probably back at the hotel, watching film of their game today, and coming up with a new game plan for Friday morning against Sweden. They might need to figure out their offense, because a loss on Friday would seriously diminish their medal hopes. If they want to get back into the picture, a huge blowout against Sweden is what's needed. Here are the four fatal things that happened to Finland vs. Slovakia this morning.
Team Finland Mishaps: 4. The offense wasn't generating anything
Finland couldn't really capitalize on any quality chances over the course of the game, and that's one reason they lost. Stars fans who turned out for the game saw some good chances from Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz, but otherwise, the most hyped offense going into the Olympics fell flat. If they want to make the next round of the Olympics, that offense will have to generate a lot of goals to boost their goal differential if they end up in a tie.
Team Finland Mishaps: 3. Juuse Saros folded like a tailgate table
Juuse Saros didn't do Team Finland any favors this morning. His failure to save the puck cost Finland the game. If you allow Juraj Slafkovsky to score two goals on you easily, the coaching staff is already possibly thinking of changing goaltenders for the next game. If Sweden pulls off the win against Italy, Finland will be in a lot of trouble, especially after all the goals they gave up today. I'm not trying to point fingers at Saros and completely blame him for the loss, but he played a huge part in it.
Team Finland Mishaps: 2. Mikko Lehtonen's fatal turnover
This is what got Slovakia all the energy to take it to Finland today. Mikko Lehtonen's turnover in the first period gave Slovakia a 1-0 lead, which they took into the first intermission. Sometimes during international play, all it takes is a goal for an underdog country to feel like they are at the big boys' table. It felt inevitable that Slovakia would be well on its way to upsetting Finland once it got its feet wet. It's just unfortunate for Finland that they couldn't get back into the game against Samuel Hlavaj.
Team Finland Mishaps: 1. Ran into an AHL goaltender hotter than the Texas sun
Even though this feels like it really isn't a thing that went wrong for Team Finland, you can't shoot the puck at the goaltender. Hlavaj shut down Finland's offense down the stretch as most shots went off the post or into his trapper. If you want to beat an Olympic goaltender, you have to aim for the open spots around him instead of firing it right at his stomach. Hopefully, they have better luck against Sweden on Friday morning.