Slovenia’s men’s ice hockey team – playing in their first ever Olympic games – secured a historic first victory with a 3-1 victory against Slovakia on Saturday morning in Sochi.
Though the scoring didn’t get opened until the third period, Slovenia outplayed the Slovaks for the majority of the game…finally breaking it open with three straight goals in the final period.
Rok Ticar got the game’s first tally about three and a half minutes into the third period, sliding the puck five-hole on Slovakia netminder Jaroslav Halak.
Five minutes later, Slovenian captain Tomaž Razingar slapped home a rolling puck to double his team’s lead.
Just over 20 seconds later, Anze Kopitar put forth a great individual effort and showcased unreal patience on Slovenia’s third and final goal.
Razingar was clearly a fan of Kopitar’s effort, as evidenced by his outburst of pure joy on the Slovenian bench immediately after the goal.
Slovakia was finally able to get on the board in the game’s final minute, but it was too late…Slovenian had all but put their first ever Olympic victory on ice.
