Juraj Slafkovsky, the Canadiens' budding star, wastes no time reminding the world why he was the top pick, lighting the lamp twice against Finland's stacked lineup in Slovakia's Group B opener. The 21-year-old dekes past Roope Hintz and wires one past Juuse Saros, channeling the same magic that earned him MVP honors in Beijing four years ago. With Samuel Hlavaj stonewalling 39 shots, Slovakia flips the script on the 2022 champs despite being outshot badly.

Miro Heiskanen anchors Finland's blue line with Esa Lindell, leveraging their Dallas Stars chemistry to drive puck movement and shutdown play in Milano Cortina. The 26-year-old Stars defenseman returns to Olympics since his teenage debut, carrying expectations beyond hardware as Finland eyes gold with a stacked roster including Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen.

Finland rolls out an Olympic roster stacked with NHL stars like Miro Heiskanen, Sebastian Aho and Roope Hintz, but captain Aleksander Barkov sits out with his knee injury from the Panthers' season. GM Jere Lehtinen plugged the gaps by adding Kraken sniper Eeli Tolvanen and Habs prospect Oliver Kapanen to keep the leadership flowing without their heart-and-soul center.