Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Ice Hockey – Men’s Preliminary Round – Group B – Sweden vs Italy – Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, Milan, Italy – February 11, 2026. Mika Zibanejad of Sweden celebrates scoring their fourth goal as Italy players look on IMAGN IMAGES via REUTERS/Geoff Burke
New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist in his native Sweden’s 5-2 win over Italy on Wednesday in the first day of the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Zibanejad assisted on Gabriel Landeskog’s goal at 9:06 of the first period to tie the game at one, as he found Sweden’s captain with a cross-seam pass late in a first-period power play.
With Sweden leading by a goal late in the third period, Zibanejad gave them a much-needed insurance marker, floating a long wrist shot past Italian goaltender Davide Fadani, who was screened by Elias Pettersson. Zibanejad’s goal came seconds after he passed up a point-blank one-timer on an open net, opting instead to try and pass to his linemate, Rickard Rakell.
Sweden’s opening win was a much closer game than they would’ve liked it to be. They entered Wednesday’s game as the heavy favorite, but surrendered the opening goal as goaltender Filip Gustavsson coughed up a big rebound on an Italy clear, then dropped his stick, allowing Italy’s Luca Frigo to capitalize just 4:14 in.
Though Gustavsson earned comparisons to Tommy Salo’s goaltending gaffe at the 2002 games, and allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced, he settled in and made 20 saves for his first Olympic win.
Sweden registered 60 shots on goal — the most by a team in the Winter Olympics to feature NHL players — but was shut down by Italy’s starting goaltender Damien Clara. Clara exited the game in the third period with an injury.
With the win, Sweden is tied with Slovakia — who upset Finland 4-1 earlier on Wednesday — for the Group B lead in the tournament. Sweden will face Finland, who are tied with Italy for last in the group, in their next game on Friday. Puck drop is at 6:10 a.m. ET.
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