Luca Frigo and Matthew Bradley scored for Italy (0-0-1-0). Anaheim Ducks prospect Damian Clara made 46 saves before exiting with an apparent lower-body injury at 6:08 of the third period.
Davide Fadani made nine saves in relief, allowing one goal.
This was the first game for Team Italy in Olympic men’s hockey since the 2006 Games in Turin and the first time it has played Team Sweden in the Olympics with NHL players.
Italy took a 1-0 lead at 4:14 of the first period when Frigo picked up a loose puck in the slot that Gustavsson mishandled and slipped it past the Sweden goalie to make it 1-0. Frigo became the first Italian player since Tony Iob to score in the Olympics, who did so on Feb. 21, 2006, against Switzerland.
The lead lasted for just over five minutes. With one second left on a slashing penalty to Italy’s Dustin Gazley, Landeskog one-timed a centering pass from Zibanejad for a power-play goal to make it 1-1 at 9:06.