San Jose Sharks
Sharks’ Olympic Round-Up, Day 4: Regenda & Slovakia Win Group, Fun Celebrini-Fan Encounter
Slovakia lost, but they won.
Two San Jose Sharks players, Pavol Regenda of Slovakia and Alex Wennberg of Sweden, faced off in a Saturday round-robin finale to help determine Group B supremacy.
2-1-0 Sweden won 5-3, but because of a last-minute Dalibor Dvorsky goal and a Finland victory over Italy, 2-1-0 Slovakia won Group B. Slovakia, Sweden, and Finland all finished Group B action with a 2-1-0 record, but Slovakia won the group with the best goal differential
This means that Slovakia, along with Group A’s Canada, will not have to play a Qualification Playoff game on Feb. 17. Both nations, along with Group C winner, likely the United States, and the best No. 2 team of the three groups, likely Finland, can go straight to the Feb. 18 quarterfinal.
Pavel Regenda
The San Jose Sharks’ power forward winger skated 12:45, registering three shots on goal.
He was almost part of a Slovakia goal near the end of the first period. Regenda’s shot eluded Jacob Markstrom, and the puck nearly crossed the goal line, before a Markstrom glove snatched it away.
A Regenda kneeing penalty led to Sweden’s second goal, an Adrian Kempe strike. His net front presence also helped Slovakia tie the game shortly thereafter, off a Martin Gernat score.
Alex Wennberg
The San Jose Sharks’ second-line center has a different role with Sweden, doing yeoman’s work as their 4C.
Wennberg played 10:41, had a shot, and was on the ice for a Juraj Slafkovsky goal, which came right after a Slovak PP.
Because Sweden finished third in Group B, they’re going to have a harder path to medal. Assuming Sweden wins its Qualification Playoff match on Feb. 17, it looks like they’ll square off with Group A’s Canada or Group C’s United States in a quarterfinal contest for the ages.
Other Sharks…
Both Group A’s Canada and Switzerland, starring San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini and Philipp Kurashev, respectively, will finish round-robin play on Sunday.
Another Olympian, the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry, is watching Celebrini closely.
Here’s a fun fan-Celebrini encounter!
Switzerland faces off at Czechia at 3:10 AM PT and Canada will try to run up the score on France at 7:40 AM PT. Overall goal differential is a key tiebreaker after the round-robin portion of the tourney, so it would behoove the Canadians to add to their best among the Group leaders’ +9. This will also help them avoid Sweden in the quarterfinal.
A namorada de Philipp Kurashev usando a jaqueta das WAGs do Time da Suíça 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/LumPWXgekz
— acervo sj sharks (@acervosharks) February 14, 2026
The Athletic has a solid primer on how seeding works for men’s ice hockey at the Olympics.
Also on Saturday, the Americans topped Denmark 6-3 and Latvia upset Germany 4-3.
Group C will also finish round-robin action tomorrow: Denmark takes on Latvia at 10:10 AM PT and the US battles Germany at 12:10 PM PT.
