By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
Day One of the 2026 Winter Olympics finally arrived for National Hockey League Players. Today marked the first time since 2014 that NHL players got to play in the Winter Olympics.
Two games were on day one’s schedule. In each game, players from the Boston Bruins represented their country. In total, four Bruins suited up on day one of the 2026 Olympics, and now it’s time to see how they all did.
The first game of the day featured Team Finland playing against Team Slovakia. Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Henri Jokiharju are both members of Team Finland.
Korpisalo didn’t play as Juuse Saros played the entire game in goal for Team Finland, but Jokiharju did play. In the end, the first upset of the 2026 Olympics happened with Team Slovakia defeating Team Finland by a final score of 4-1. The game was tied at one after two periods, but Team Slovakia scored three goals in the third period to secure the win. Team Slovakia’s goaltender, Samuel Hlavaj, was incredible to earn the win. Slavaj finished with 39 saves against a talented Finnish offense.
In the game, Jokiharju didn’t contribute much to Team Finland. Jokiharju’s ice time of 7:34 was the second-lowest among Team Finland’s roster, and he also finished with a -1 rating. To make the loss worse for Jokiharju, had to see Juraj Slafkovsky of the Montreal Canadiens score two goals and finish with a three-point game for Team Slovakia.
The second game of the day featured Team Sweden playing against Team Italy. Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Hampus Lindholm are both members of Team Sweden. As Korpisalo did earlier in the day for Team Finland, Hampus didn’t play at all for his country. Hampus wasn’t dressed for the game against Team Italy, but Elias got to play for Team Sweden.
In the end, Team Sweden defeated Team Italy by a final score of 5-2. Team Sweden led 3-2 after two periods in a close game, but scored two goals in the third period to put the game away. However, Elias didn’t do much to contribute to Team Sweden. Elias recorded no points with a 0 rating in over 15 minutes of ice time.
Day two of the Olympics will continue tomorrow with four games on the schedule. Two of which involve Bruin players. David Pastrnak and Team Czechia will take on Team Canada at 10:40 a.m. ET, and Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman of Team USA will take on Team Latvia at 3:10 p.m. ET.
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