17-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky shot Germany’s conqueror Slovakia to their first Olympic ice hockey medal.
With his sixth and seventh tournament goals, the teenager paved the way for the 2002 world champions to win 4-0 (0-0, 2-0, 2-0) in the bronze medal match against Sweden.
Slafkovsky (24th) scored the lead for the Slovaks, who had knocked out the German national team 4-0 in qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Samuel Takac (33rd) made it 2-0. Slafkovsky (59′) hit the empty goal as Sweden put everything on one card. Pavol Regenda (59th) ensured the final score.
The underdog thus continued his positive Olympic series against two-time gold medal winners Sweden: It was the third win in four duels at the Winter Games, only the first meeting in 1994 had resulted in a 4-4 draw. Slafkovsky is considered a top ten candidate in the next NHL draft this summer.