Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky scored the first goal of the 2026 Olympics in men's hockey earlier this week. Since then, he has shown consistency over his country's first three games, and that has led him to history.
On Saturday, it was confirmed that Slafkovsky became the fourth men's hockey player to score 10 Olympic goals before the age of 22, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Altogether, Slafkovsky has played in 10 games and scored 10 goals.
The first player to do so was Bruce Mather at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.
However, Slovakia fell 5-3 to Sweden in a preliminary round game on Saturday. As a result, Slovakia is 2-1 in the Group B standings.
Slafkovsky is a forward for the Montreal Canadiens. This year, he has played in 57 games, scoring 21 goals, recording 24 assists, and totaling 45 points.
Altogether, Slafkovsky has played in 257 NHL games with 63 goals, 93 assists, and 156 points. In 2024, he signed an eight-year contract extension with the Canadiens.
His first appearance at the Olympics came in 2022 in Beijing. He scored both goals in Slovakia's opening game loss to Finland 6-2. At the same time, Slafkovsky, then aged 17, became the first player at that age to score an Olympic goal since Eddie Olczyk in 1984 in Sarajevo.
Altogether, he finished with seven goals as Slovakia went on to win the bronze medal. In the process, Slafkovsky was named the MVP of the tournament.
That same year, he suited up for the World Championships, where he scored three goals and recorded six assists, totaling nine points. Later on, he was selected by the Canadiens as the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Slafkovsky is turning into a force for Slovakia at these Olympics, and he'll be a catalyst in the country's quest to secure a medal in Milan in 2026.
