Slovakia’s remarkable Olympic ice hockey journey continued Wednesday in Milan as they defeated Germany 6-2 to secure their place in the men’s semifinals at the Santaggiulia arena.
The unexpected tournament standouts, who surprised many by winning their group, dominated the match with goals from multiple players. Forward Pavol Regenda found the net twice, scoring once in the opening period and again in the third. The second period saw a flurry of Slovak scoring with forwards Milos Kelemen, Oliver Okuliar, and Dalibor Dvorsky all contributing goals, while captain Tomas Tatar added the final tally in the third period.
Germany, who earned silver at the 2018 Olympics, had easily defeated France in their qualification playoff but struggled offensively against Slovakia and will finish the tournament without hardware.
Following Wednesday’s quarterfinal conclusion, the remaining teams will undergo reseeding for Friday’s semifinals, with the top seed meeting the lowest seed and the second and third seeds battling each other.
Slovakia, the 2022 bronze medalists, opened the scoring late in the first period when defenseman Erik Cernak fired a shot from the blue line that Regenda deflected into the goal.
The second period belonged to Slovakia as Kelemen maneuvered past a struggling German defender before lifting the puck into the upper right corner just four minutes in. Okuliar followed up quickly, beating the German goaltender just 31 seconds later to extend the lead.
Slovak supporters were relieved to see tournament standout Juraj Slafkovsky return to action after a concerning collision with the boards, and Dvorsky provided additional security by outsmarting the German defense for another goal.
Germany’s Lukas Reichel managed a late second-period goal, and his team applied pressure in the final frame, outshooting Slovakia 13-12. However, Regenda’s second goal of the game sealed Slovakia’s victory, and Tatar’s empty-net goal completed Germany’s disappointing exit.
