Medals update: Slovakia shuts out Sweden to win Beijing 2022 men's ice hockey bronze

Slovakia landed two knockout blows in the second period to set up their 4-0 shutout of Sweden at Beijing 2022 on Saturday (19 February) to clinch their first Olympic medal in men's ice hockey.

Teenage sensation Juraj Slafkovsky demonstrated his deft scoring touch with his brace of goals to give his side the ultimate edge.

Neither side found a way onto the scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes of the bronze-medal clash, with Slovakia holding a slight edge with 14 shots on goal.

Slafkovsky swung the game in Slovakia's favour when he sent the puck into the back of the net three minutes into the second period.

Slovakia turned up the pressure on the Swedish goal, which eventually paid dividends when Samuel Takac scored their first powerplay goal with seven minutes left in the period.

Slafkovsky landed another decisive blow a minute and a half from time before Pavol Regenda scored an open netter seconds later (4-0).

The 17-year-old Slafkovsky scored seven goals at Beijing 2022 and bows out of his maiden Olympics as the tournament's leading goal-scorer.

The team's Canadian coach Craig Ramsay said afterwards, "It's pretty amazing for a young boy for that... we believed in him. We've given him a chance now for a couple of years.

"All we thought going into this tournament actually was, 'Could he just score a goal?' He'd had trouble scoring, he was stuck. He did it, and he did it in spades! He got to play with a bunch of really good players, and then we put him up on the first line even. It was quite a performance for any young person to put out."

Sweden and Slovakia have never met each other in a medal-playoff match but have faced each other three times before.

Coming into the clash, Sweden held the edge, beating the Slovaks during the preliminaries at Turin 2006 and the quarterfinals four years later at Vancouver 2010. Their first meeting at Lillehammer 1994 finished in a 4-4 draw.

The Swedes are no strangers to the Olympic podium boasting nine medals to their name, including gold from Lillehammer and Turin. Slovakia had never won a men's ice hockey medal at the Winter Olympic Games, missing out on a previous occasion when they lost to Finland in the third-place playoff match at Vancouver 2010.