The old rivalry rose up and took a bite out of Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond and Sweden on Friday at the Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy.
Finland opened up a 2-0 first-period lead and went on to take a 4-1 decision over the Swedes. Both teams are now 1-1 in Group B, each with three points. Slovakia (2-0), captained by former Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar, leads the group with six points.
Time On Ice
Raymond played 20:21, the third-highest total among Swedish forwards. He skated 18 shifts, averaging 55 seconds per shift.
Production
Raymond drew the secondary assist on Sweden’s only goal of the game. It was his first point in Olympic action.
Rasmus Dahlin pulls the Swedes within one! ☝️
📺: Finland vs. Sweden is LIVE from the #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics on @peacock, @cbcgem, & @TSN_Sports! pic.twitter.com/z96zfw2oGE
— NHL (@NHL) February 13, 2026
The goal was scored by Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who is rooming with Raymond during the tournament. Raymond was also assessed a slashing minor in the first period. He finished the game with a minus-one rating.
Game Notes
Sweden opted to stay with Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustafsson after he allowed a couple of soft goals in their 5-2 win over Italy. There had been speculation that the Swedes were going to switch to Jakob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils between the pipes . . . Sweden was 0-for-6 on the power play. Raymond is part of the team’s first power-play unit.
Analysis
It’s always a toss-up when arch-rivals Sweden and Finland clash in international hockey. You can throw the form charts out the window.
As someone who has had the privilege of covering many Sweden/Finland hockey games over the years between Olympics and men’s worlds, make sure you take one in sometime in your life. Bucket list item, hockey fans. What a rivalry. Again a great atmosphere here today in the rink with…
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 13, 2026
That being said, Finland’s win was just the fourth against Sweden in 15 Olympic meetings. Sweden beat Finland 2-1 in the gold-medal game at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Next Game
The Swedes tangle with group leaders Slovakia in their final Group stage game on Saturday. The puck is scheduled to drop at 12:10 p.m. ET.