Olympics men’s hockey: Slovakia upsets OAR, 3-2

Slovakia stuns the Olympic Athletes of Russia with a thrilling 3-2 victory in the opening game of group play.

The men’s hockey tournament is less than a day old and we already have a big upset. The favorites entering the tournament, the Olympic Athletes of Russia, were downed by Slovakia in a stunner.

The Olympic Athletes of Russia got off to a hot start on two goals just 4:08 into the game. Vladislav Gavrikov got OAR on the boar 2:54 in with a seeing eye shot from the point. Less than two minutes later, Kirill Kaprizov tipped a Nikita Gusev shot past goaltender Branislav Konrad to put OAR up 2-0.

It looked like the rout was on, but Slovakia kept their composure and fired back.

Peter Olvecky cut the deficit in half at the 16:06 mark and Martin Bakos tied it up with just over two minutes left in the first.

A scoreless second set up a big third period for both countries.

Peter Ceresnak broke the tie with 12:30 left in the third on a power play goal. Ceresnak gathered the puck at the point and wired a slap shot past goaltender Vasili Kosheckhin.

OAR tried to tie things up in the final minutes, pulling their goaltender for the extra attacker, but could not find the equalizer.

Slovakia goalie Branislav Konrad made 20 saves. Kosheckhin finished with 16 saves, casting doubt on his future as the number one goalie for Russia.

Highlights

What’s Next?

The Olympic Athletes of Russia will look to avoid another upset when they meet Slovenia on Friday morning at 2:40 a.m. ET. Slovenia is coming off a comeback of their own, defeating USA 3-2 in overtime.

Next: Every USA Olympic hockey team, ranked by miracles on ice

Slovakia will meet USA on Thursday night, with the puck dropping at 10:10 p.m. ET.