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Cristano DiGiacinto, Giovanni Morini, Dustin Gazley and Matt Bradley (from left) celebrate a goal. © APA/afp / JULIEN DE ROSA
In a crime novel, the Azzurri achieve near immortality.
On Friday at midday, the Italian national ice hockey team made their second appearance at this year's Olympic tournament. Slovakia, supposedly the weakest opponent in the group stage, awaited Italy. The Azzurri were undeterred, played brilliantly, and came very close to causing a major upset.
February 13, 2026
From: mv
In front of nearly 4.000 spectators at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, Italy faced Slovakia on Friday. Once again, the Azzurri were considered the underdogs, but for much of the game, the hosts were the better and more entertaining team. Nevertheless, in ice hockey, goals are what ultimately count, and Slovakia scored one more than Italy in their 3-2 victory.
The Eastern Europeans had started the tournament with a surprising 4-1 victory against Finland. This was mainly due to the Slovaks' physical style of play, which they initially failed to employ against Italy. Instead, the Azzurri – with Pustertal's Nick Saracino and Marco Zanetti making their debuts – were the better team in the first period and created two or three excellent scoring opportunities. However, they failed to convert any of these into goals – a mistake that would prove costly as the game progressed.
Slovakia takes the lead, Italy doesn't give up.
In the second period, Italy struggled significantly to create scoring opportunities. Their first shot on goal didn't come until the 34th minute – by which time Slovakia had already scored two goals. However, the Azzurri didn't give up so easily and continued to make life difficult for the Slovakian team. Their efforts paid off: Matt Bradley's second goal of the tournament, scored on the power play, made the game exciting again. Although Slovakia restored their two-goal lead in the final period, Dustin Gazley's first Olympic goal kept the game close for a long time. Ultimately, however, it wasn't to be Italy's first victory at this year's tournament.
As expected, coach Jukka Jalonen started Davide Fadani in goal. The 25-year-old is under contract with EHC Kloten in Switzerland and showcased his skills against Slovakia. The only downside: Fadani had to leave the ice injured after 49.50 minutes. Up until then, he had boasted an impressive save percentage of 93,33 percent. Hopefully, the Lombardy native hasn't suffered anything serious. The good news, however, is that Damian Clara was already fit to play again on Friday and replaced Fadani in the game.
The most important scenes
| Scoreless first period | No goals were scored in the first 20 minutes. The hosts were the better team: Tommaso De Luca's shot was saved by Slovakian goalkeeper Stanislav Skorvánek (8th minute). |
| Slovakian double strike | In the second period, the Eastern Europeans played with significantly more physicality and scored two goals: First, the puck bounced off Alex Trivellatos' skate and into the net after a pass from Libor Hudácek (24th minute). Then, a lapse in Italy's defense gifted the Slovaks a 2-0 lead, with the completely unmarked Matus Sukel simply tapping it in (34th minute). |
| Italy lives! | But the Azzurri didn't give up: Matt Bradley scored his second goal of the tournament on the power play to make it 1-2. The goal followed a one-timer from Phil Pietroniro that hit the post (38th minute). Shortly before the second intermission, Skorvánek made a monster save on a slapshot from Bradley, preventing the equalizer (40th minute). |
| Bad luck for the Azzurri | A huge opportunity for Italy! Mikael Frycklund's powerful shot hits the crossbar, the puck bounces to Tommy Purdeller, but once again Skorvánek makes a big save with his glove. Some fans in the stands have already jumped to their feet (44th minute). |
| Fadani out, Clara beaten | A bitter blow! After Damian Clara had to leave the ice injured against Sweden, this time it was Davide Fadani's turn to be sidelined (50th minute). The 21-year-old from Reischach came into the game for the final ten minutes. Just two minutes later, he had to pick the ball out of his net: Dylan Di Perna's penalty had actually already expired when a chaotic scramble ensued in front of the Italian goal. Adam Ruzicka capitalized on it to make it 3-1 (52nd minute). |
| A brief glimmer of hope | There were already six Azzurri on the ice when Dustin Gazley, from a side angle, used his skate and a bit of luck to put the puck into the opponent's net (57th minute). Was there still a chance? The answer was: No. The game was effectively over when captain Dylan Larkin received a two-minute penalty for delay of game with half a minute remaining. |
The Azzurri's next match is already on Saturday: at 4:40 pm the last group game against Finland will take place in the Santa Giulia Arena. SportNews will again provide live ticker coverage of the match.
Italy – Slovakia 2:3
ITA: Fadani (Clara); Larkin-Trivellato, Pietroniro-Zanatta, Di Tomaso-Glira, Seed-Di Perna; Gazley-Bradley-DiGiacinto, De Luca-Frycklund-Saracino, Purdeller-Mantenuto-Frigo, Zanetti-Kostner-Morinicoach: Noble
SVK: Skorvanek (Hlavaj); Nemec-Fehérváry, Cernák-Gernát, Ceresnák-Marincin, Koch; Slafkovský-Ruzicka-Tatar, Kelemen-Pospísil-Regenda, Liska-Dvorsky-Hudácek, Takac-Sukel-Okuliar, Cingel
coach: Országh
Gates: 0:1 Libor Hudácek (23.51/PP), 0:2 Matus Sukel (33.45), 1:2 Matt Bradley (37.06/PP), 1:3 Adam Ruzicka (51.54), 2:3 Dustin Gazley (56.25)
Viewers: 3.986
Olympic Games, Group B
Finland – Sweden 4:1Goals: 1:0 Matinpalo (7.44), 2:0 Lundell (15.26), 2:1 Dahlin (24.39/PP), 3:1 Armia (32.47/SH), 4:1 Rantanen (59.25/EN)
| Pos | Country | Games | Tore | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Slovakia | 2 | 7:3 | 6 |
| 2. | Finland | 2 | 5:5 | 3 |
| 3. | Sweden | 2 | 6:6 | 3 |
| 4. | Italian | 2 | 4:8 | 0 |
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