MILAN (AP) — A budding star with the Detroit Red Wings in his fourth NHL season, Lucas Raymond has elevated his game to an entirely different level with Sweden at the Olympics.

Only Canada's Connor McDavid, widely considered the best hockey player on the planet, and Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning MVP at the Games from his breakout performance in 2022, have more points.

Raymond has been not just producing but also winning puck battles, and veteran defenseman Victor Hedman said the 23-year-old forward “put this team on his back” at times.

Raymond also had an ill-timed slashing penalty in the waning minutes of the preliminary round finale against Slovakia, which led to a costly goal that dropped Sweden from what would have been a comfortable spot as the third seed all the way to seventh. That means an extra game Tuesday in the qualification playoffs just to get into the quarterfinals Wednesday, and it's a chance for Raymond to get some retribution and put the Swedes back on track.

“We all saw that penalty in the end,” coach Sam Hallam said. "He has to own it. We support him. We do things together as a team. We learn from it. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be fired up for the next game.”

Raymond has a goal and four assists through three games, which is even better than his point-a-game pace with Detroit.

“He’s a very talented player — very good, very skilled," Sweden teammate Adrian Kempe said. “He plays hard, and obviously we saw some of that today. He’s been great. He’s one of our best players. When you get to watch him in the NHL, as well, you see what he can do. He’s obviously a young, talented guy and a big (part of the) future for our country.”

While Hedman and captain Gabriel Landeskog may be playing at the Olympics for the final time, Raymond is young enough to envision this being the first of a few, as long as the NHL continues to participate. There's already an agreement to go when it's in the French Alps in 2030.

Milan has been a showcase event so far for Raymond.

“I’ve felt better game by game," Raymond said. "Coming into a tournament, you want to perform. You want to play well for your team, and you want to be a good teammate. I think that’s our entire team’s mindset coming in, and we’re going to keep doing it that way.”

Sweden struggled to get going early in its opener against host Italy, lost to archrival Finland and actually had its best game against Slovakia until Raymond's slash and Dalibor Dvorsky's goal cut the margin from three to two, changing the group winner despite a 5-3 victory.

“You never want to put the guys in a spot like that, but it is what it is," Raymond said. "We’ll move on and get ready for the next game.”

___

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

MILAN (AP) — Dalibor Dvorsky's goal with 39 seconds left may have sent Slovakia to the quarterfinals in men's hockey at the Olympics as the winner of the group in a tiebreaker even after losing to Sweden 5-3 on Saturday in each team's final preliminary round game.

Slovakia wins Group B as long as Finland beats host Italy later in the day because of goal differential among the three tied teams. Finland is a substantial favorite.

"It’s probably the best loss I ever had," said Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning Olympic MVP who's tied with Canada's Connor McDavid for the most points in the tournament with six apiece. ““It’s crazy, but we take it.”

Dvorsky, who plays for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL, also called it the best loss of his life. His goal on the power play after a penalty on Lucas Raymond made it happen.

“We all know what we need to do on the ice," Dvorsky said. "There was not too much tactics, right? And at this point of the game, just try to get pucks to the net. And at the end, it was a rebound that was the goal.”

Sweden, which played much better than it had in its 4-1 loss to archrival Finland on Friday, was left to lament a missed opportunity even after winning the game. Coach Sam Hallam pulled goaltender Jacob Markstrom in the final seconds while leading by two goals because of the tiebreaker, but Sweden did not score again.

“Tough pill to swallow,” alternate captain Victor Hedman said. "But we will regroup. We’ll be ready for our next challenge.’’

Markstrom stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced and may have supplanted Filip Gustavsson as Sweden's starter moving forward. Unless Italy somehow beats Finland or gets the game to overtime, Sweden will have to play in the qualification round Tuesday in order to reach the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The U.S. plays Denmark on Saturday night looking to keep pace with unbeaten Canada in the race for the top seed.

Latvia upsets Germany

Eduards Tralmaks and Renars Krastenbergs scored just over three minutes apart, and Latvia defeated Germany 4-3. Arturs Silovs of the Pittsburgh Penguins stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced.

“We’re a good team,” said Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres, one of 10 NHL players on Latvia's roster. “We believed it. I don’t think we go into the game thinking it’s going to be any other way. We came in today thinking we’re going to win. And that’s what we did. We on paper, probably the best team we’ve had. We’re just going to keep gaining better by every game.”

Germany's Philipp Grubauer, who was excellent in an opening win against Denmark when he and his teammates were badly outshot, allowed four goals on 22 shots in the loss.

“We just got to find a way to score,” said Tim Stützle, who scored the third goal for Germany. “That’s it. We got to go in the hard areas, know where the other guy is and then make those plays.”

Germany faces the U.S. on Sunday night.

___

AP Sports Writers John Wawrow and James Ellingworth contributed.

___

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics