Juraj Slafkovský may roll his eyes, but he’s in the same league as Connor McDavid at the Olympics

Félix Forget
Juraj Slafkovský may roll his eyes, but he’s in the same league as Connor McDavid at the Olympics
Credit: Getty Images

This morning, Slovakia lost to Sweden 5-3. That said, in reality, it was a defeat that felt like a victory for the Slovaks, who secured first place in their group if they lost by less than three goals (or if they won, of course) against the Swedes.

In fact, they also needed Finland to beat Italy… but we all knew that wasn't going to be a problem.

And once again this morning, Juraj Slafkovský wassolid in his team's victory. He picked up an assist on his team's third goal, but more importantly, he fired off a cannon shot to score the Slovaks' first goal.

So, at the time of writing,Slaf is tied with Connor McDavid for the top spot in scoring since the start of the tournament.The habs forward has played one more game, but he's still averaging two points per game since the start of the tournament.

When Arpon Basu mentioned this to Slafkovský, he rolled his eyes and said he was lucky to be there and that McDavid deserved it.

But in reality, when you look a little further, you see thatSlaf isn'tjust lucky: he's really having a spectacular tournament.

Before today's game (with everyone having played two games), the Slovakian was tied with McDavid for scoring chances.The Oilers star had a big lead in chances created with passes, but in terms of pure scoring chances, he is neck and neck with Slafkovský.

And we know thatSlaf, unlike McDavid, doesn't exactly have a club of superstars at his side. That doesn't take anything away from McDavid, who manages to rise above this group despite everything (and who is objectively a better player than Slafkovský), but it does show that the habs forward is playing some very, very big hockey.

His teammates are right: they may not have as many stars as Sweden or Canada, but they have Juraj Slafgoalský. And that gives them a chance to win every game.

The proof: in a group that includes Sweden and Finland, it is ultimately Slafkovský and Slovakia who will finish in first place.

Who would have predicted that before the tournament?


Overtime

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