Juraj Slafkovsky’s Olympic Scoring Tear Hits Double Digits - and He’s Still Just 21
Juraj Slafkovsky is doing it again - and doing it on the biggest international stage in hockey. With three more goals in as many games at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, the 21-year-old forward has now reached 10 goals in 10 Olympic contests, stretching back to his breakout performance in Beijing in 2022.
Let that sink in for a second: 10 goals in 10 Olympic games. That’s not just consistency - that’s elite production at a level few ever reach, especially before their 22nd birthday.
Slafkovsky’s latest tally came in Slovakia’s 5-3 loss to Sweden on Saturday at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, a game where he also chipped in an assist. Despite the loss, Slovakia and Sweden now sit tied atop Group B with six points apiece.
But the group standings aren’t locked just yet. If Finland beats Italy in regulation today, Slovakia would take the top spot in the group and punch its ticket straight to the quarterfinals - thanks to a favorable goal differential in a three-way tie scenario.
Slafkovsky’s Olympic résumé is already turning heads, but his latest milestone puts him in rarefied air. According to Elliotte Friedman, he’s now just the fourth male player in history to score 10 goals at the Winter Olympics before turning 22 - and the first to do it since American Bruce Mather back in 1948. That’s nearly eight decades between feats.
He’s also joined some pretty iconic company in Slovak hockey history. With at least five points during the preliminary round, Slafkovsky becomes just the fourth NHL-affiliated player to hit that mark for Slovakia at the Winter Games, alongside legends Marian Hossa, Pavol Demitra, and Marian Gaborik. And with his 10th Olympic goal, he’s now tied with Miroslav Šatan for second-most goals by a Slovak player in Olympic history.
Let’s talk about the game itself. Slafkovsky tied things up in the first period with a goal at 11:01, assisted by Simon Nemec and Tomas Gernat.
That made it 1-1 after Sweden had opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Joel Eriksson Ek. Slovakia kept pace for a while - Gernat even tied it again in the second period at 2-2 - but Sweden pulled away with a flurry of goals, including a second from Elias Pettersson and a late dagger from Lucas Raymond.
Still, the bigger story here is Slafkovsky’s continued rise. He’s not just playing well - he’s dominating, and doing it with the kind of poise and power that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. His combination of size, skill, and scoring touch is on full display, and it’s clear he thrives under Olympic pressure.
Next up, all eyes turn to the Canada-France matchup on Sunday morning, where Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Texier will go head-to-head. But if you’re Slovakia, you’re watching the Finland-Italy game first. A regulation win for the Finns would give Slovakia a smoother path forward - and with Slafkovsky in this kind of form, they’ll be a tough out for anyone in the knockout rounds.
The kid is rewriting the Slovak record books - and he’s just getting started.