BROSSARD, Que. — This was Team Slovakia in full flight, chests puffed out, confidence spilling over the brim to establish a stifling forecheck and put a stranglehold on a tired German side that had just beaten France 21 hours earlier to advance to the Olympic quarterfinal.
It played strong and hard, tight defensively and free offensively, earning 21 of the first 27 shots and the first four goals of Wednesday’s game. It played in the image of its best player, the one who put them in this position to begin with.
Of course, we’re referring to Juraj Slafkovsky, whose multipoint performances through the preliminary round pushed Slovakia into the driver’s seat of this ride to the medal round. With three goals and three assists through the opening games against Finland, Italy and Sweden, he put the car in gear and revved its engine to the red line, and then it ran the Germans over in a 6-2 rout at Santagiulia Arena.
The Kosice native may have only notched a secondary assist on the closing goal of this game, but he set the tone at the start of it, flashing the leadership traits he honed through four years of NHL development with the Montreal Canadiens.
“I wouldn’t necessarily think he came into the league that way as an 18-year-old,” said coach Martin St. Louis a day prior, and he was right about that.
The Slafkovsky who arrived in Montreal in the fall of 2022 — after being drafted first overall by the Canadiens that summer — was a six-foot-three, 238-pound man-child. He was confident yet concerned, with dominant performances at the Beijing Olympics and world championship inspiring self-belief and the prospect of playing against the best players in the world night-in, night-out, but largely balancing that self-belief out with some trepidation.
Slafkovsky dipped his toe in NHL waters several times through his first 155 games before building up the courage to ritually dive into the deep end.
But that’s where he’s been swimming over the last year and change, with 35 of his 63 goals and 75 of his 156 points earned over 102 games played since Jan. 1 of 2025.
“He’s evolved to a guy that wants to lead with his actions on the ice, and guys usually will follow that,” said St. Louis. “I think he’s evolved to that… Looks like he’s picked up from where he left off here, and he’s not looking back. He’s just moving forward, and guys are following him.”
In Montreal this season, it’s been Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen — the former leading all rookies in points (46), the latter tied for the rookie lead in goals (18), both of them under Slafkovsky’s command.
“To see him move to the line with Demi and Kappy and drive it to be unbelievable for us this year shows he is a leader,” said Canadiens teammate Kaiden Guhle. “I think it’s just his mindset. He’s a young leader that we love having, and you can see guys following.”
It’s happening in Milan, too.
Against the Germans, it was Pavol Regenda, Oliver Okuliar, Dalibor Dvorsky and Milos Kelemen following Slafkovsky — to the corners, to the front of the net, and on the counterattack to beat Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer for goals before Slafkovsky started the play that led to Tomas Tatar’s empty netter in the dying minutes.
He started the game with three of Slovakia’s 17 first-period shots, including two dangerous ones on a momentum-fuelling power play.
It ran through Slafkovsky because it was set to, but also because he was demanding it to. He wanted the puck and was calling for it, just like he did through the first three games of the tournament.
It all looked familiar to Canadiens teammate Lane Hutson.
“I think what he’s doing in the Olympics is pretty special, but we always see him doing it,” Hutson said on Tuesday. “That maybe goes unnoticed, but he does a lot of the little things right and he can really drive possession and hang on to the pucks and make those high-end plays. To see it on the Olympic scene is pretty special, and I’m definitely not surprised with it.”
Neither is Brendan Gallagher.
“I think you can just see his consistency,” the 33-year-old said. “He was able to really carry over his finish to last season into this year. From game to game, he’s having an impact. He’s finding a way to really be consistent, playing with different players and impacting the game in different ways. I think he’s feeling really confident when he has the puck on his stick, and he’s been dominant for us. I think what you’re seeing at the Olympics is just exactly what we’ve seen all year.”
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It’s propelled Slafkovsky to 21 goals and 24 assists through the first 57 games of this season, and to seven points through the first four games of the Olympics.
He was the MVP last time around, with seven goals posted to help Slovakia to its first-ever bronze medal in men’s hockey.
But Slafkovsky’s gone from caterpillar to butterfly since then, with no steps in his metamorphosis skipped.
And yet, six weeks from his 22nd birthday, he’s only just taking flight.
“The way he protects the puck, creates space for himself is really where I’ve seen him evolve the most,” said Gallagher. “He’s had little details in his game that have improved; he’s learned. He’s still a young player, too, so he’s going to keep getting better.”
The Canadiens are banking on it, and so is Team Slovakia in their quest for another Olympic medal.
