Italy, who has 0 NHL players, nearly pulls off upset of Sweden in Olympic hockey opener

"Team Sweden survived an early national embarrassment in their first game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The medal favorites eked out a 5-2 victory over the host Team Italy, needing a game-winning tally from Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander to prevent a horrible start to the tournament. Sweden initially fell behind 1-0 to the Italians, whose roster has zero players with NHL experience."

"Luca Frigo, born in Moncalieri, Italy, opened the game's scoring just 4:14 into the first period. The 32-year-old forward, who plays for Bolzano HC in Austria, picked up a loose puck in the slot and buried it after Sweden's goaltender, the Minnesota Wild's Filip Gustavsson, fumbled it and lost his stick. In doing so, Frigo became the first Italian player since Tony Iob, on February 21, 2006, against Switzerland, to score at the Olympics."

"Clara, who made 46 total saves, was forced out of the game in the third period after suffering an injury making a breakaway stop on Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson. The 21-year-old backstop has just two games of AHL experience from last season and is playing the 2025-26 campaign in Sweden for Brynäs IF, where he is 16-13 with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .888 save percentag"

Team Sweden edged host Italy 5-2 in their opening 2026 Winter Olympics game, avoiding a potential early upset. Italy opened the scoring 4:14 into the first period when Luca Frigo capitalized on a loose puck after Sweden goaltender Filip Gustavsson fumbled and lost his stick. Sweden took a 2-1 lead through Gabriel Landeskog and Gustav Forsling but Italy tied early in the second. William Nylander scored the game-winner after a Rasmus Dahlin setup, and Sweden added insurance goals. Italian netminder Damian Clara made 46 saves before exiting injured in the third period.

Read at RMNB