Elias Pettersson breaks out of a major slump dating back to November in dominant performance for Sweden

Team Sweden beat Team Slovakia 5-3 today in the 2026 Olympics, and it was because of a strong outing by Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson.

Pettersson scored twice in the Team Sweden win, and it was the first time since November 17 that he's scored twice in a single game.

It's been a rough year for Pettersson and the Canucks, who are the NHL's worst team only two years after they won the Pacific Division and advanced to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinal against the divisional foe Edmonton Oilers.

Even though they won, Sweden dropped to third place and spot in the qualification round Tuesday because of Team Finland's 11-0 win over Team Italy.

Pettersson said that regardless of who their next opponent is, they'll be ready to face them.

Nothing has gone right for the Canucks this year, and they've already made a pair of major trades that sent captain and former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild and Kiefer Sherwood to the divisional foe San Jose Sharks.

Pettersson has found himself heavily involved in trade rumours, as well as fellow forwards Conor Garland and Jake DeBrusk.

So far with the Canucks, Pettersson has 34 points (13G, 21A).