![[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 11, 2026; Milan, Italy; Juraj Slafkovsky of Slovakia celebrates scoring their first goal with Michal Ivan of Slovakia against Finland in men's ice hockey group B play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3859,h_2170/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/160/01khe5xbbteec77yqm4q.jpg "[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 11, 2026; Milan, Italy; Juraj Slafkovsky of Slovakia celebrates scoring their first goal with Michal Ivan of Slovakia against Finland in men's ice hockey group B play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images")
For Montreal Canadiens' fans, they got to see how good Juraj Slafkovsky is all season as he has already set his career-best in goals with 21 through 57 games. However, the rest of the world is really starting to take notice as he had another goal on Saturday against Sweden and extended his total to three in these Olympic Games.
When remembering he had seven in the 2022 Olympic Games, he has accomplished something not done since 1948 by Bruce Mather of Team USA. According to Elliotte Friedman, Slafkovsky becomes only the fourth male to reach 10 Olympic goals before age 22.
Slafkovsky 4th male to reach 10 Olympic goals before age 22.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 14, 2026
First since Bruce Mather (USA) in 1948 https://t.co/Ya5umkoghl
At this point in his Olympic career, Slafkovsky has already surpassed Alex Ovechkin in goals and has now tied Jarome Iginla, and done so in fewer games, as Ovechkin played in 17 Olympic games and Iginla played in 19.
Through the preliminary round, Slovakia has won two out of their first three games that gurantees them at least one more game. However, at this point is win-or-go home for the teams left.
Montreal Canadiens have to hope this performance carries over to help them down the stretch
While Slafkovsky is certainly focused on trying to help his team win a medal in the Olympics, the Montreal Canadiens have to be hoping that this performance can help their former first-overall pick play even better than he did before the Olympic break. The Canadiens currently find themselves second in the Atlantic Division with their focus on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
One of the reasons for Slafkovsky's career-season in goals is that his shooting percentage has jumped from 13.5% last season to 17.9%.
When thinking about the improvements by players like Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov alongside players like Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, this offense is going to be tough to match up against in the playoffs. That is something down the road for Montreal to think about. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how many more goals Slafkovsky can add to his Olympic total before these games are over.