It took one game for an upset to occur in men’s hockey at the Olympics. Unfortunately, it was a couple of Avalanche players who were on the wrong end of that upset.

Slovakia defeats Finland 4-1

Slovakia was never going to be a pushover, but this is not how Finland wanted to start its tournament. One of the highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL, Juuse Saros, was outplayed heavily by Samuel Hlavaj, who isn’t even having a good season in the AHL. Hlavaj finished with 38 saves and was particularly strong in the first period when Slovakia was still finding its legs.

Colorado Avalanche Artturi Lehkonen had some of Finland’s best chances to score, including two great looks right in the slot during the first period, but failed to beat Hlavaj. He did pick up an assist on Finland’s only goal of the game. Fellow Av Joel Kiviranta dressed but did not take a single shift.

Finland is behind the 8-ball. Slovakia owns the head-to-head advantage inside their group and Sweden looks to be the favorite. Their coaching staff made some interesting decisions, including giving seven forwards more ice time than Mikko Rantanen, the former Avalanche who is the highest-scoring Finnish forward in the NHL.

Sweden defeats Italy 5-2

This game was far closer than anyone would have anticipated. While Sweden heavily outshot Italy, it was a one-goal game with five minutes remaining in the third. Italy put up a good fight, due to a great goaltending performance by Damian Clara, who, unfortunately, was forced to leave the game in the third period due to injury.

Avalanche Gabriel Landeskog dressed for his first game since a Jan. 4 upper-body injury and made an immediate impact, throwing a big hit on the opening shift. After an early goal by Italy, Landeskog tied the game for Sweden on a man advantage, one-timing a puck past Clara. He finished with a little over 13 minutes of ice time and four shots on goal.

Thursday’s men’s hockey lineup:

Switzerland vs. France: 4:10 a.m. (Peacock)

Czechia vs. Canada: 8:40 a.m. (USA Network, Peacock)

Avs Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will make up 40% of Canada’s top power-play unit. Can either of them find some mojo out in Milan that they can bring back to the man advantage for Colorado? Avalanche fans certainly hope so. Maybe the best thing that could happen in the long run for Colorado would be Makar finding his accuracy and burying a few power-play goals this tournament. Teammate Devon Toews is on defense.

Av Martin Necas looks like he’ll be on Czechia’s top line with superstar David Pastrnak and Vegas’ Tomas Hertl. For Czechia to have any chance, they’ll need that line to produce.

Latvia vs. United States: 1:10 p.m. (USA Network, Peacock)

On paper, this seems like a “gimme” for the United States, but as we saw during Wednesday’s two games, it’s not that simple. Avalanche Brock Nelson looks like he will center the fourth line for the U.S., flanked by New Jersey’s Jack Hughes and New York Ranger J.T. Miller. Expect Nelson to play a key role on the penalty kill, just as he has with the Avalanche this season.

Germany vs. Denmark: 1:10 p.m. (Peacock)