The injury update for Kevin Fiala was quick and about what was expected. Fiala underwent surgery on Saturday and will miss the rest of the NHL season on top of the Olympic tournament.
The following might explain why Fiala was wheeled off the ice while on his front:
At this point, the Kings might as well be swapping in Artemi Panarin in for Fiala. Both play left wing, while Panarin would take Fiala’s place on the top power play. Despite the acquisition of Panarin, the Kings still have real concerns with scoring both at even strength and on the power play. Fiala leads the Kings with 17 power-play points and is second on the team with 40 points, so it goes without saying his absence will be impactful. Corey Perry‘s spot on the top power play appears to be safe again, while Andrei Kuzmenko could continue to be used there as well. Don’t rule out another acquisition, since Fiala is very likely headed to LTIR. The Kings cannot operate as sellers after acquiring Panarin.
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If you were up early enough, you may have caught two dramatic finishes that had playoff implications. I was lucky enough to wake up at 5 am, which is not typical for me on a Saturday.
Despite a goal from Tim Stutzle with under three minutes to play, Latvia was able to pull out a 4-3 win over Germany. The Germans look like a stronger team on paper, boasting a formidable core of Stutzle, Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider, and JJ Peterka. Their lineup thins out after that, but that group was on the ice for practically all of the last five minutes of the game. However, DEL defenseman Lukas Kalble led the Germans with a goal and an assist in this game.
Credit to Arturs Silovs, who stopped 26 of 29 shots while preventing Germany from tying the game. Like Jordan Binnington, Silovs raises his game when the stakes are highest. The most notable examples include Latvia’s bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, an NHL playoff series win with the Canucks in 2024 while filling in for Thatcher Demko, and a Calder Cup win for the Abbotsford Canucks in 2025. Silovs also entered the Olympics on a roll with four consecutive quality starts for the Penguins. He had been alternating starts with Stuart Skinner during that time.
Dans Locmelis, who plays for the Providence Bruins of the AHL, led Latvia with two goals.
The other dramatic finish was a 5-3 win for Sweden over Slovakia… but only in a way that is unique to international tournaments. I’ll let this dude explain it:
Yes, the Slovakians were the ones celebrating after a game that they lost. The late goal was a power-play marker from Dalibor Dvorsky after Lucas Raymond took a needless slashing penalty. Then the final seconds of the game saw Jacob Markstrom skating to the bench for the extra attacker with his team leading by two goals, which was an odd scene.
That was an entertaining game, but it may create an early playoff-round scare for either Canada or the United States. One of those powers (more likely the US based on goal differential, depending how games play out today) would have to face Sweden in the quarterfinal as a result of Sweden falling in Group B. In other words, Canada running up the score against France would be out of necessity as opposed to poor sportsmanship. Canada’s game today (Sunday) is earlier than the US’s game.
Dvorsky had six shots in this game along with the goal, continuing his strong tournament. In three games, the Blues rookie has accrued four points. He is a recent top search on Frozen Tools, so you’re naturally curious about him. In his first season with the Blues, Dvorsky has a modest 15 points in 47 games while averaging 14:30 in icetime.
Dvorsky’s NHL goal total is interesting, as nine of his 15 points are goals while five of those goals are on the power play. His power-play icetime with St. Louis has been climbing to the point where he has been averaging over 50% of the Blues’ power-play time over five of the Blues’ last six games. The Blues are hardly an offensive juggernaut, so temper your short-term expectations. That being said, Dvorsky has streaming potential once the NHL returns. The fact that he is already contributing to the Blues’ power play makes him intriguing in keeper leagues.
With a goal and an assist, Juraj Slafkovsky pulled into the Olympic scoring lead with Connor McDavid. Both have six points, although McDavid has reached that number in one fewer game. Slafkovsky is a key reason that Slovakia has had so much success in the preliminary round. The former first overall pick (Slafkovsky, that is) is currently on pace for his best NHL season, just six points shy of his career-best 51 points from last season.
Despite the brain fart, Raymond had a strong statistical game. He finished with a goal, two assists, six shots, and a plus-2.
Canucks fans should be happy with Elias Pettersson‘s performance on Saturday, as he scored two of Sweden’s goals. Pettersson entered the Olympics with just 14 points in his last 27 NHL games, a far cry from the 89 points and 102 points he put up 2-3 seasons ago. If he can ever reach these numbers again, it may take him a while and perhaps even a different team. Pettersson is on pace to finish below 60 points for the second consecutive season and may even finish below 50 points again. I haven’t seen many players whose stock has fallen that far that quickly.
Sweden’s forward depth means that the likes of Pettersson and Filip Forsberg aren’t seeing much icetime in the tournament. Both played under 12 minutes on Saturday. Forsberg assisted on one of Pettersson’s goals while finishing with four shots. Forsberg played just 1:07 (!) in Sweden’s opening game against Italy.
Sweden took 51 shots in Saturday’s game. Raymond, William Nylander, and Joel Eriksson Ek led the way with six shots each.
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The Finland/Italy had no such drama, with the Finns steamrolling the host Italians 11-0. Finland’s 62 shots shouldn’t be that surprising given the goal total. Italy managed just 15 shots.
Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, Kaapo Kakko, and Joel Kiviranta each scored two goals. Kakko, Artturi Lehkonen, and Mikko Rantanen each finished with three assists.
Juuse Saros picked up the shutout. Appearing in all three of Finland’s games, Saros is the clear-cut starter over Joonas Korpisalo and Kevin Lankinen for the Finns. He had been struggling with Nashville prior to the Olympics with just one win and one quality start over his last five games.
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The final Olympic match of the day saw the US defeat Denmark 6-3. Although Denmark kept it close for the first two periods, the Americans pulled away in the third period.
This game might be most remembered for the soft goal that Jeremy Swayman allowed. Because this is the Olympics, videos seem to have been blocked out on X – at least in Canada. Let’s show you the big-screen YouTube version then.
The goal gave Denmark an unexpected 2-1 lead in the first period, which they held until about halfway through the second period, when the Americans scored three consecutive goals. The Danes closed the lead to 4-3 with just seconds left in the second period, which added a bit of intrigue to start the third period.
Swayman finished with a more respectable three goals allowed on 21 shots, but I’d have to assume that coach Mike Sullivan will return to Connor Hellebuyck once the preliminary round is finished.
Jack Eichel was probably the best player in this game, scoring a goal while adding an assist with seven shots.
Mads Sogaard came out of the game midway through the third period after making a save on Senators teammate Brady Tkachuk. Frederik Dichow came on in relief, as Frederik Andersen did not dress for this game.
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Look for the February Top 100 Roto Rankings to appear later today.
Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social