Slovenia upsets Slovakia 3-1 for first ever Olympic hockey win

It was pretty surprising when Slovenia, playing Olympic hockey for the very first time, put up a tough fight against Russia on Thursday, ultimately losing 5-2 to the hosts. Well, what Slovenia did on Saturday is downright shocking. They upset Slovakia 3-1 during preliminary play in Sochi, earning the first Olympic hockey win in the country's history.

Scoreless through two periods, Slovenia found an extra gear in the third. It started with Rok Ticar who scored a power-play goal less than three and a half minutes into the third period to open the scoring. Just over five minutes later, it was Slovenia's captain, Tomaz Razingar, extending the lead to 2-0. Less than 30 seconds after that, Anze Kopitar, Slovenia's only NHL player (Slovakia has 12), made it 3-0.

Tomas Jurco scored in the final minute for Slovakia but it was too little, too late as the Slovenians were victorious. Robert Kristan made 27 saves for Slovenia while Slovakia's Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 of 31 shots he faced.

Tomas Kopecky of Slovakia was injured during the first period after being hit in the head by the elbow of Slovenia defenseman Sabahudin Kovacevic. He was looked at on the bench by team doctors before being taken to the locker room and did not return to the game.

Slovenia improved to 1-1 in Group A and will finish off the preliminary round on Sunday against the Americans. Slovakia will also play Sunday, looking to avoid going 0-3 in group play; it won't be easy against the Russians.