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Ryan S. Clark
Canada entered the 2026 Olympic men’s hockey tournament as the favorites to win the gold medal, and secured the No. 1 seed heading into the knockout round.
Nick Suzuki and a decisive game-winning goal in overtime from Mitch Marner to move on to the semifinals via a 4-3 win.
The game featured many critical pivot points, perhaps none more important for the game — and the future — than Sidney Crosby sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period that kept him out for the duration.
Here’s how Marner, Suzuki & Co. overcame Czechia, including key takeaways, an overall team grade and the player of the game, along with the biggest questions for the next round.
What does Sidney Crosby’s absence mean going forward?
Canada was without its captain for a large portion of its comeback victory against Czechia. He sustained an apparent lower-body injury early in the second period, and did not return.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar was on the other end of a hit from Radko Gudas, but he appeared to have at least amplified his ailment after being entangled with two Czech players against the boards. It led to Crosby gingerly skating back to the bench. He went back to the dressing room, where he remained for the duration.
Winning an overtime game without one of its most important players reinforces how Canada has the depth to withstand such an injury in a tight game. But as for what this could all look like for Canada in the event that Crosby remains shelved? Canada’s front office built a roster that has seven additional centers it could use to fill that void. It’s a group that includes the center who authored the game-tying goal, in Suzuki.
Of course, there’s also a leadership void, which could be partially addressed by the fact Canada has five players beyond Crosby who have been or are currently NHL captains. But, every Canadian hockey fan will be awaiting any sort of update on Crosby’s status for the semis and beyond.
Czechia found — and exposed — a few pressure points
Comparisons are going to happen. Even more so in a tournament that’s already seen two teams play each other once. That was evident Wednesday. The version of Czechia that took a 2-1 lead into the second period was drastically different than the iteration that slumped to a 5-0 loss to Canada in its opening game.
Yes, Macklin Celebrini scored the opening goal. It was a continuation of how Canada has found ways to strike first in all of its games. The difference is that Czechia responded with a Plan B, playing in ways that other teams struggled to find in the opening round.
Czechia had those moments in the first when it could create odd-skater rushes and hold possession in Canada’s zone. It was able to use tendencies like Jordan Binnington aggressively tracking the puck for Lukas Sedlak to score the game-tying goal on a gaping net. Czechia drew more penalties in the first period than it had in its first encounter against Canada. That first power-play chance led to David Pastrnak feeding a cross-ice pass to Roman Cervenka before Pastrnak scored the go-ahead goal with a minute remaining that left Canada trailing for the first time all tournament.
It was that way in the third period when Czechia withstood surges from Canada before Ondrej Palat scored the go-ahead goal — before Suzuki tied it to send the game to overtime.
WHEN HIS COUNTRY NEEDED HIM MOST, NICK SUZUKI DELIVERED. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/LKLlElEXpK
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 18, 2026
The second period forced Canada to find solutions in an unfamiliar spot
One of the questions facing Canada heading into elimination games was how it would respond in the event it was trailing. Not that teams haven’t tried to provide resistance against Canada at this tournament. What made Czechia’s approach different was how it was able to withstand Canada for extended periods.
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Czechia taking a more physical approach led to Sidney Crosby skating gingerly back to Canada’s bench. But it also provided the opening that the Canadians were trying to find during those 5-on-5 sequences. Canada’s ability to control possession and generate chances was countered with Czechia working to take away space while providing goaltender Lukas Dostal the distance and time to see those attempts.
Michal Kempny being assessed for interference allowed Canada to get on the power play and find the space for Connor McDavid to find Nathan MacKinnon for a power-play goal that tied the game 2-2 with 7:44 left in the second. And while Canada also had its physical moments in that period, it was done in a way that didn’t lead to Czechia drawing penalties.
If anything? Czechia’s need to be physical is what opened the door for Canada to get another power-play chance toward the end of the second that also extended into the third. Future opponents would be wise to toe that line without stepping over it.
This was another example of what makes the discourse around Binnington so fascinating.
He finished with a .875 save percentage and gave up two first-period goals in a game that saw Canada trail for the first time. But he rebounded to perform well in the third period and in overtime. He recovered from allowing that go-ahead goal from Palat to stop Martin Necas on a breakaway with 1:10 left in the third. He then came up with another big save early in the 3-on-3 overtime before Marner scored the game-winning goal to send Canada to the next round.
It might not have been pretty, but it was enough for yet another clutch win for Canada with Binnington in the crease.
Big questions for the semis
There are two. The first centers around how Canada navigates the situation facing Crosby and if he’ll miss time. Beyond that, there’s also the question of how much of what Czechia did against Canada is a blueprint that Slovakia, among others, could replicate.
Czechia found counters versus a team that went through the opening round without any real resistance. Being physical was both a help and a hindrance for Czechia, but it still placed Canada in an unfamiliar position in an elimination game. Czechia forced Canada to come back twice before winning in overtime.
Although Canada had its moments when it controlled the pace and had repeated high-danger chances, Czechia showed that it is possible to withstand that onslaught and come to the verge of potentially pulling off an upset.
#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/8nCO7eg2fa
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 18, 2026
