Slovakia surprisingly wins over the match favourite

The national ice hockey team wins its first Olympic Games match.

Slovakia’s ice hockey representation kicked off the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games with a victory against the Olympic Athlete from Russia team, which is considered a favourite for the Olympic gold.

The match ended 3:2. Slovak goals were scored by Peter Ölvecký, Martin Bakoš and Peter Čerešňák. Nikolai Prokhorkin and Kirill Kaprizov scored for the Olympic Athlete from Russia.

Slovakia now has 3 points in the preliminary round.

Altogether, 12 teams in three groups compete in the men’s tournament, held between February 14 and 25. Each team will compete in three games to determine seeding, playing every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games.

Each group winner receives a bid into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams will play an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner will advance to the semi-finals with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze.

The Slovaks are playing in Group B of the preliminary round, against the Olympic Athlete from Russia, the United States and Slovenia.

Programme of the preliminary round - Group B:

Feb 14 (Wed) 13:10 GMT +1, Slovakia - Olympic Athlete from Russia (3:2)

Feb 16 (Fri) 4:10 GMT +1, Slovakia – USA

Feb 17 (Sat) 13:10 GMT +1, Slovakia – Slovenia

Summary:

Feb 14 (Wed) 13:10 GMT +1, Slovakia - Olympic Athlete from Russia; 3:2 (2:2, 0:0, 1:0), Scores: ÖLVECKÝ Peter (16:05), BAKOŠ Martin (17:55), ČEREŠŇÁK Peter (48:30) – PROKHORKIN Nikolai (2:54), KAPRIZOV Kirill (4:08)

14. Feb 2018 at 15:30 | Compiled by Spectator staff