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Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros made his Olympic debut for Finland on Feb. 11 and it did not go well.
Saros stopped 21 of 24 shots in a 4-1 loss to Slovakia, a crushing blow to Finland's hopes for a medal in the tournament.
Finland went down 1-0 when Juraj Slafkovksy found room in front of Saros, deking around him for the score. Former Predators forward Eeli Tolvanen, who now plays for Seattle, tied the game for Finland early in the second period.
But Slovakia scored twice in the third period to take a commanding lead — Dalibor Dvorsky beat Saros in tight, roofing the puck over his right shoulder, then Slafkovsky scored another on the power play.
Both goals were unscreened in front — Saros had full view of each shot, but couldn't make the save.
Adam Ruzicka added an empty net goal, sealing the 4-1 win for Slovakia.
The loss puts Finland (0-1-0, 0 points) at the bottom of Group B, with their next matchup against Sweden on Feb. 13 (5:10 a.m. CT). The top two teams in each group advance to the playoff round, which begins on Feb. 17.
Saros, 30, had an excellent junior hockey career for his home country, leading Finland to a gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He also played for Finland at the 4 Nations Face Off and at the IIHF World Championships in 2025.
Now in his 11th season for the Predators, Saros was once backup to Pekka Rinne, then took over the starting job after Rinne's retirement in 2021. Saros immediately became one of the NHL's top goaltenders: Between 2021-2024, Saros went 127-83-16, finishing as high as third in Vezina Trophy voting.
But Saros has seen a decline in production over the last two seasons, his save percentage dropping from .916 to .894. He also leads the NHL in losses (48) since 2024-25.
This season, Saros is 21-17-5 with an .892 save percentage and a 3.20 goals allowed average. According to Money Puck, Saros ranks 65th (out of 70) in goals saved above expected, a metric that isolates goaltending results from a team's defensive play.
In 2024, Saros signed an eight-year, $61 million contract extension that will keep him in Nashville through 2033.
OLYMPICS SCHEDULE: When will Predators' Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi play in Olympics?
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Juuse Saros struggles in Olympic debut for Finland
Continue reading...
Saros stopped 21 of 24 shots in a 4-1 loss to Slovakia, a crushing blow to Finland's hopes for a medal in the tournament.
Finland went down 1-0 when Juraj Slafkovksy found room in front of Saros, deking around him for the score. Former Predators forward Eeli Tolvanen, who now plays for Seattle, tied the game for Finland early in the second period.
But Slovakia scored twice in the third period to take a commanding lead — Dalibor Dvorsky beat Saros in tight, roofing the puck over his right shoulder, then Slafkovsky scored another on the power play.
Both goals were unscreened in front — Saros had full view of each shot, but couldn't make the save.
Adam Ruzicka added an empty net goal, sealing the 4-1 win for Slovakia.
The loss puts Finland (0-1-0, 0 points) at the bottom of Group B, with their next matchup against Sweden on Feb. 13 (5:10 a.m. CT). The top two teams in each group advance to the playoff round, which begins on Feb. 17.
Saros, 30, had an excellent junior hockey career for his home country, leading Finland to a gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He also played for Finland at the 4 Nations Face Off and at the IIHF World Championships in 2025.
Now in his 11th season for the Predators, Saros was once backup to Pekka Rinne, then took over the starting job after Rinne's retirement in 2021. Saros immediately became one of the NHL's top goaltenders: Between 2021-2024, Saros went 127-83-16, finishing as high as third in Vezina Trophy voting.
But Saros has seen a decline in production over the last two seasons, his save percentage dropping from .916 to .894. He also leads the NHL in losses (48) since 2024-25.
This season, Saros is 21-17-5 with an .892 save percentage and a 3.20 goals allowed average. According to Money Puck, Saros ranks 65th (out of 70) in goals saved above expected, a metric that isolates goaltending results from a team's defensive play.
In 2024, Saros signed an eight-year, $61 million contract extension that will keep him in Nashville through 2033.
OLYMPICS SCHEDULE: When will Predators' Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi play in Olympics?
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Juuse Saros struggles in Olympic debut for Finland
Continue reading...
