With all the focus on the United States and Canada in the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, it's easy to overlook an early and critical Group B matchup between two medal contenders. Sweden and Finland — two elite Scandinavian hockey nations and rivals on the ice — are set to clash on Friday, Feb. 13, at 6:05 a.m. ET. with coverage on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock. 

Last Olympic hockey tournament at Beijing 2022, with no NHL players competing, Finland won gold. But the Finns were upset in their opening fixture against Slovakia this week in Italy. The 4-1 defeat to Juraj Slafkovsky's squad puts them in a challenging position with immediate pressure to perform against the tough Swedish team. 

“It is a disappointment," Finnish defenseman Niko Mikkola said of the opening loss. "The tournament is pretty short, so you can't live with the loss too long. So we have to focus on the next game.”

Finland will be desperately looking to avoid starting the tournament 0-2 in round-robin play in defense of their 2022 gold medal, so you can expect them to play aggressive against Sweden from the start.

"We have to learn from our mistakes and scratch this game as fast as we can," Finnish forward Artturi Lehkonen added.

Sweden also opened its Olympic campaign on Wednesday, earning a solid victory over the hosts from Italy. It was a slow start for Sweden and Italy took the initial lead in a back-and-forth game, but Sweden's quality came through with three unanswered goals to secure the 5-2 win.

Despite the fight that Italy showed, it was the expected outcome for Sweden, which is comprised entirely of NHL players, compared to Italy's roster — the only team at these Olympics without an NHL player. 

"That is the only way to get into a tournament," Swedish forward Gabriel Landeskog said after the hard-fought win.

Canada is expected to lead Group A. The United States is expected to pace Group C. But Group B? Friday's battle between 1-0 Sweden and 0-1 Finland will go a long way in determining its victor. In the Olympic men's hockey tournament, the winner of each group advances along with the top-performing second seed of the three groups.

Both Sweden and Finland were a bit slow to start their Olympic tournament. The difference is Slovakia had the quality to make Finland pay, while Italy did not against Sweden. 

It might be early in the men's hockey tournament, but make no mistake: This is a rivalry. It will be heated. And the atmosphere will be electric. Sweden is trying to make a statement to the rest of the field, while Finland wants to swing the momentum back in its favor.

"It is always a big match against Sweden," Mikkola said. "It does not matter the circumstances, it is always big when we play our neighbors. It is going to be a fun game for sure."