NHL Recap from Milan, February 18, 2026 | Pro Hockey News

Team Finland and Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen was one of three NHL players to score an overtime winner on Wednesday (also Mitch Marner with CAN & Quinn Hughes w/ USA), which was the first day of multiple overtime games during an Olympic tournament with NHL participation. In Friday’s semifinals, Team Finland will take on Team Canada, while Team USA will clash with Team Slovakia.

* Oil cans forward Connor McDavid set a record for assists in a single tournament by NHL players during Team Canada’s overtime victory while Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes sent Team USA to the semifinals and became the first defenseman to score an overtime goal in an elimination game at an Olympic Games with NHL participation.

* Blues rookie Dalibor Dvorski set the mark for the most points by an NHL rookie in a single Olympic tournament featuring NHL players, while Team Slovakia secured their third semifinal appearance at the Olympic Games.

*Less than a week before the 2025-2026 NHL regular season schedule resumes on Wednesday, February 25, with an eight-game series including a showdown between the Atlantic Division’s top seed Lightning and the Maple Leafs.

FINLAND, CANADA, UNITED STATES CONFIRM SEMI-FINAL PLACES IN OVERTIME

In the midst of a 2025-26 NHL campaign that featured 233 overtime games, the most ever at this stage of a season, three of Wednesday’s four quarterfinals required extra time — with an NHL player emerging the winner each time — as Team Finland, Team Canada and Team USA each secured their spots in the semifinals.

* Jets ahead Nino Niederreiter helped Switzerland build a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (58:48) scored the penultimate draw in an elimination match of an Olympic tournament with NHL players, paving the way for Artturi Lehkonen‘s overtime winner as Finland became the second team to post a multi-goal third-period comeback victory at an Olympic Games involving the NHL. With the victory, Finland advanced to the semifinals at the Olympic Games for the fifth time in tournaments with NHL participation and concluded their fifth match against Canada at the Olympic Games with NHL players (also BMG from 1998, 2002 QF, 2006RR & 2014RR).

* Lehkonen is no stranger to playing the role of hero in overtime – he scored the series-clinching score in the extra frame to both Canadians 2020-21 (Game 6 of SF) and Avalanche 2021-22 (Game 4 of CF) to the Stanley Cup Final. He is one of two players in NHL history to score multiple overtime goals in his career to put his team in the finals multiple times (also Gordie Drillon: 1939 SF & 1938 SF with TOR) and one of two Finnish players with a cup goal (also Accumulation Kurri: 1987 with EDM).

* Forward after avalanche Nathan Mackinnon leveled the score at 2-2 with the help of Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini (1-2-3) and captain of Oilers Connor McDavid (0-2—2), Islanders forward Ondrej Palat gave the Czech Republic a 3-2 lead in the third period. However, Canadians are moving forward Nick Suzuki found the back of the net with 3:27 left in the game to become the third Canadian to score a tying goal in the final five minutes of regulation in an Olympic game featuring NHL players (56:33), setting the stage for Golden Knights forward Mitch Marnerwho scored the fastest overtime winner in an Olympic game with NHL involvement (1:22) and sent Canada to the semi-finals for the eighth time overall and fifth time in six tournaments featuring NHL players.

*Celebrini held out his goal streak to four games and became the second teenager to score in an Olympic elimination game involving NHL players (also Olli Määtä in BMG 2014). Celebrini also recorded his second three-point match in Milanincreasing his tournament totals to 5-4-9 (4 GP) to break a tie Evgeni Malkin (2006: 2-4-6 in 7 GP) for most points by a teenager at an Olympic Games with NHL participation. Meanwhile, McDavid posted his fourth straight multi-point game – tying with Teemu Selanne (4 GP in 1998) for the longest streak at an Olympic Games with NHL players.

* After Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad tied the game for Team Sweden with 1:31 remaining in regulation, Wilde defenseman Quinn Hughes (1-1-2) scored the overtime winner to send Team USA to the semifinals for the fifth time overall and the fourth time in six tournaments featuring NHL players. Team USA will face Team Slovakia for the third time at an Olympic Games with participation in the NHL, with the United States skating to a pair of round robin victories in 2014 and 2006.

* Hughes became the first defenseman to score an overtime goal in an Olympic Games knockout game featuring NHL players and increased his Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games total to 1-5-6 (5 GP). Only two blueliners have scored more points in one Olympic Games while participating in the NHL: his opponent in the quarterfinals Erik Karlsson (4-4-8 in 2014 with SWE) and fellow countrymen Brian Rafalsky (4-4-8 in 2010 with USA).

TEAM SLOVAKIA GOES INTO THE THIRD SEMI-FINALS AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Sharks ahead Pavol Regenda (2-1-3) and Blues rookie Dalibor Dvorski (1-1-2) led their country to victory with multi-point performances to help Team Slovakia secure their third semifinal appearance at the Olympic Games, following a bronze medal in 2022 and a fourth-place finish in 2010. Regenda scored the most points in a playoff game by a Slovakian at an Olympic Games featuring NHL players, alongside Paul Demitra (2x; 1-2-3 in QF & BMG 2010) and Marian Hossa (0-3-3 in QF 2010). He also tied Hossa (2-0-2 in PQ 2014) for most goals in that scenario.

* Dvorsky improved his total to 3-3-6, giving him the most points ever by an NHL rookie and by any Blues player in a single Olympic Games with NHL players, surpassing the mark Alexander Stone (1-3-4 in 2014 with ZWE), David Backes (3-1-4 in 2014 with USA) and Scott Young (4-0-4 in 2002 with USA). The 20-year-old Dvorsky also became the third-youngest player to record a points streak of more than four games at an Olympic Games with NHL players, behind Macklin Celebrini in 2026 (4 GPs at age 19 with CAN) and Evgeni Malkin in 2006 (4 GPs at age 19 with RUS).

AROUND THE NHL: LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK’S RETURN

With the quarterfinals of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in the books and NHL teams already back on the ice practicing, we are less than a week away from the resumption of the 2025-2026 NHL regular season, which drops the puck on an eight-game slate Wednesday February 25.

* The NHL’s return Wednesday will see a showdown between the Atlantic Division’s first-place Lightning (37-14-4, 78 points) and the Maple Leafs (27-21-9, 63 points), who will try to move closer to the playoff line and extend the NHL’s longest active streak of consecutive postseason appearances to 10 seasons. Tampa Bay had won five straight games going into the break (and 19 of their past 21), while Toronto won each of its last three games. The game will be broadcast nationally in the US (TNT, HBO Max, truTV) and Canada (SN, TVAS).

* The three players leading the Art Ross Trophy race are all in action Wednesday: Oilers forward Connor McDavid (34-62-96), Avalanche forward Nathan Mackinnon (40-53-93) and Lightning Ahead Nikita Kucherov (29-62-91). MacKinnon is chasing his first Art Ross TrophyMcDavid his sixth, while Kucherov can win the award for the third season in a row (fourth time overall). The three players formed the top three in scoring in 2023/24

QUICK CLICKS

* Artemis Panarin ready to help fuel King’s offense for a playoff push

* Sydney Crosby has Canada win the Olympic quarterfinal against the Czech Republic with a lower-body injury

* The Czech Republic ‘played with our hearts’ near Canada at the Olympics

* Macklin Celebrini blossoming for Team Canada in the first Olympics at age 19

* The United States performed a ‘greater miracle’ at the 1960 Olympics

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