Olympics Game Preview: Italy vs. Slovakia with Line Combinations | 02/13/2026

Team Slovakia (1-0-0) at Team Italy (0-0-1)
Venue: Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena
Date: Friday, February 13
Time: 6:10 am ET / 5:10 am CT

TV: OBC / NBC / CBC Sports

DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Team Slovakia -3.5 ML -1100
Team Italy +3.5 ML +700
O/U 5.5

Team Slovakia News and Notes:

Slovakia came into this Olympic tournament in the middle of the pack, with onlookers unaware of how good Slovakia was going to play on the international stage. Team Slovakia is here to stay! Team Slovakia comes into tomorrow morning’s game against Team Italy, coming off a 4-1 throttling of one of the top teams in the world, Team Finland. On the back of a three-point performance from Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky, Team Slovakia proved that they are a team to be reckoned with and have officially entered the medal conversation.

Team Italy News and Notes:

Team Italy is coming off a tough 5-2 loss to Team Sweden two days ago, where goaltender Damian Clara was the talk of the town. Although he let five goals through, he gave his all on the national stage for his home country, putting up 55 saves against one of the best teams in the tournament. Clara, unfortunately, suffered a lower-body injury and is listed as questionable for tomorrow morning’s contest against Slovakia. Team Italy is going into this game as major underdogs, being the only team in the tournament with zero NHL players, but they proved on Wednesday that they are worthy of a spot in the Olympics.

Team Slovakia Projected Lines:

Tatar-Ruzicka-Slafkovsky
Kelemen-Pospisil-Regenda
Liska-Dvorsky-Hudacek
Takac-Sukel-Okuliar

Fehervary-Nemec
Gernat-Cernak
Marincin-Ceresnak
Ivan-Cingel

Hlavaj
Gajan

Team Italy Projected Lines:

DiGiacinto-Bradley-Gazley
Segafredo-Frycklund-Petan
Frigo-Mantenuto-Purdeller
Morini-Kostner-De Luca

Trivellato-Larkin
Zanatta-Pietroniro
Glira-Di Tomaso
Seed-Di Perna

Fadani
Clara

Players to Watch:

Team Slovakia:

Obviously, Juraj Slafkovsky is going to be at the top of Team Italy’s scouting list after his performance against Team Finland, putting up two goals and an assist. However, 20-year-old St. Louis Blues forward Dalibor Dvorsky was able to get on the board a couple of times, assisting on one of Slafkovsky’s goals and potting one of his own as well. But, all would be for naught if it was not for a masterclass by Iowa Wild goaltender and Minnesota Wild goaltending prospect Samuel Hlavaj putting up 39 saves on 40 shots against one of the top teams in the tournament.

Team Italy: 

Team Italy is going to have to rest on their go-to scorers, who performed well against Sweden, that being Luca Frigo, who opened up the scoring, and Matthew Bradley, who tied the game at 2-2 before Sweden went on a rampage in the third period. Bradley is also the only member of the team with AHL experience, previously playing for the Milwaukee Admirals.

Next Game:

Team Slovakia: Saturday, February 14 vs Team Sweden – 6:10am ET
Team Italy: Saturday, February 14 vs Team Finland – 10:40am ET