Canada's Mitch Marner (#17) celebrates after scoring the overtime winner in a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Czechia in the 2026 Olympic quarter-finals.
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
In a thrilling do-or-die showdown, Mitch Marner scored the overtime winner at 1:22 as Canada fought back to beat Czechia 4-3 and advance to the 2026 Olympic semi-finals.
Marner, a longtime Toronto Maple Leafs star who now plays for the Vegas Golden Knights, took a drop pass from Macklin Celebrini, split the Czech defence, and roofed a backhander over goalie Lukas Dostal's glove.
Looking ahead, Marner said: "We've still got a lot of work to do. We've still got a big challenge ahead of us. We need to just kind of make sure we stay focused and keep doing the work."
This certified classic of a quarter-final was a true test of character for coach Jon Cooper's favoured Canadians. They trailed 2-1 in the first period, lost captain Sidney Crosby to injury in the second period, and were down 3-2 with under four minutes left in regulation. Cooper leaned heavily on the loaded-up line of Celebrini, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon.
In regulation time, Celebrini had a goal and two assists, and MacKinnon also scored. Nick Suzuki got the late tying goal, and McDavid had two helpers. The Edmonton Oilers great, a five-time NHL scoring champ, leads the tournament in assists (10) and points (11). McDavid has tied the "NHL Olympics" points record, shared with Finland's Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (2006).
Canada's dream of winning its fourth Olympic men's hockey gold medal in the 21st century (2002, 2010, 2014) is another step closer to reality.
"It was a humbling, hard game," said MacKinnon. "We won our first three games 5-0, 5-1, and 10-2. So it's good to have a little adversity to keep us a little more humble, maybe."
Lukas Sedlak, David Pastrnak, and Ondrej Palat scored for the Czechs. Captain Roman Cervenka, the 2024 IIHF Male Player of the Year, picked up two assists.
"We had a 3-2 lead, so I think we are so close," said Czechia's David Kampf. "I think we played a good game. We didn't play too well in our last game but we came together today. I think we did our best and can go home with our heads held high."
Canada outshot Czechia 41-24. Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington, who played in the opening 5-0 win over Czechia and the 10-2 rout of France, got the job done. Dostal was exceptional in the Czech net.
Canada's Cale Makar complimented the Czechs: "For them to be able to give us such a great game like that on a back-to-back for them [after beating Denmark 3-2 the night before], it was incredible. Hopefully we can bottle our energy here and continue it with the next game."
The Czechs showed some early nerves puckhandling-wise. It bit them when McDavid stole the puck from Pastrnak inside the Czech blue line and then sent it back in the slot to Celebrini, who zinged home his tournament-leading fifth goal at 3:05.
Sedlak tied it up at 8:37. Rugged Czech blueliner Radko Gudas picked off Mark Stone’s pass in the neutral zone and hustled over the Canadian blue line to send the puck across to Cervenka. The Czech captain found Sedlak, his linemate with Pardubice HC, in front with an open net.
Palat, who was shaken up earlier when he blocked a Colton Parayko blast, recovered to get a partial shorthanded breakaway after Shea Theodore’s stick broke, but couldn’t cash in.
At 14:49, Pastrnak atoned for his earlier error, giving Czechia a 2-1 lead on a power-play one-timer from his favourite spot in the left faceoff circle. It was the same spot from which the Boston Bruins superstar scored the gold-medal winner against Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague. This marked the first time Canada has trailed at these Olymipcs.
The Czechs targetted Crosby physically early in the second period. He left the game in visible discomfort after sustaining hits from Palat, Gudas, and Martin Necas. Canada picked up its pace in response and Dostal had to foil McDavid and Celebrini on consecutive chances.
"We felt a little sad for him, I guess," Suzuki said. "You never want to see anyone go down. Guys just needed to step up and do it for him and get the win for him."
Shortly after the midway mark, Czechia's Michal Kempny was penalized for roughing up MacKinnon during an extended corner scrum. MacKinnon made Czechia pay on the power play, taking a feed from McDavid and beating Dostal with a laser at 12:16.
Canada was carrying the play and picking up the hitting, as Drew Doughty laid out Pastrnak with a shoulder-to-chest crusher. But the Czechs hadn't lost their belief, as David Kampf rattled one off Binnington's right post. Suzuki then hit the iron moments later with a wide-open net. Shots were 17-5 Canada in the middle frame.
The Czechs mounted a push midway through the third, and it bore fruit at 7:42. On an odd-man rush, Necas, who was a force all night, fed the puck back to Palat, and he snapped it past Binnington's blocker for a 3-2 lead.
But Canada wasn't done. Suzuki got in on the forecheck for Canada and then got in front to tip Devon Toews' point shot through Dostal at 6:33 for a 3-3 tie.
"I didn't love my backcheck on the third goal [by Palat]," said Suzuki. "I think I could have gotten a better stick on that drop pass. After that, I had to try to step up and do something."
Necas had the game on his stick with just over a minute left in regulation when he stormed off on a breakaway after blocking a Toews point shot. However, Binnington denied the Colorado Avalanche star when he went to the backhand.
"There's so many big plays in that game that made it what it is," Marner said. "Nick's tying goal, Binnington's saves when we needed him, including that Necas breakaway in the third and a couple of big overtime ones. So I'm just happy to contribute."
Czech fans have long savored the memory of eliminating Canada from gold-medal contention at the first “NHL Olympics” in 1998. Dominik Hasek’s dazzling goaltending in the shootout – with stops on Theo Fleury, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros, Ray Bourque, and Brendan Shanahan – gave the Czechs a 2-1 semi-final win and enabled them to beat the Russians for gold. But this wasn't their day.
Canada’s all-time Olympic record versus the Czechs – in the post-Czechoslovakia era, dating back to the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games – rises to four wins, one tie, and two losses. The only encounter in that span to be decided by more than one goal was Canada’s 6-4 bronze-medal win at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Marner, a longtime Toronto Maple Leafs star who now plays for the Vegas Golden Knights, took a drop pass from Macklin Celebrini, split the Czech defence, and roofed a backhander over goalie Lukas Dostal's glove.
Looking ahead, Marner said: "We've still got a lot of work to do. We've still got a big challenge ahead of us. We need to just kind of make sure we stay focused and keep doing the work."
This certified classic of a quarter-final was a true test of character for coach Jon Cooper's favoured Canadians. They trailed 2-1 in the first period, lost captain Sidney Crosby to injury in the second period, and were down 3-2 with under four minutes left in regulation. Cooper leaned heavily on the loaded-up line of Celebrini, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon.
In regulation time, Celebrini had a goal and two assists, and MacKinnon also scored. Nick Suzuki got the late tying goal, and McDavid had two helpers. The Edmonton Oilers great, a five-time NHL scoring champ, leads the tournament in assists (10) and points (11). McDavid has tied the "NHL Olympics" points record, shared with Finland's Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (2006).
Canada's dream of winning its fourth Olympic men's hockey gold medal in the 21st century (2002, 2010, 2014) is another step closer to reality.
"It was a humbling, hard game," said MacKinnon. "We won our first three games 5-0, 5-1, and 10-2. So it's good to have a little adversity to keep us a little more humble, maybe."
Lukas Sedlak, David Pastrnak, and Ondrej Palat scored for the Czechs. Captain Roman Cervenka, the 2024 IIHF Male Player of the Year, picked up two assists.
"We had a 3-2 lead, so I think we are so close," said Czechia's David Kampf. "I think we played a good game. We didn't play too well in our last game but we came together today. I think we did our best and can go home with our heads held high."
Canada outshot Czechia 41-24. Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington, who played in the opening 5-0 win over Czechia and the 10-2 rout of France, got the job done. Dostal was exceptional in the Czech net.
Canada's Cale Makar complimented the Czechs: "For them to be able to give us such a great game like that on a back-to-back for them [after beating Denmark 3-2 the night before], it was incredible. Hopefully we can bottle our energy here and continue it with the next game."
The Czechs showed some early nerves puckhandling-wise. It bit them when McDavid stole the puck from Pastrnak inside the Czech blue line and then sent it back in the slot to Celebrini, who zinged home his tournament-leading fifth goal at 3:05.
Sedlak tied it up at 8:37. Rugged Czech blueliner Radko Gudas picked off Mark Stone’s pass in the neutral zone and hustled over the Canadian blue line to send the puck across to Cervenka. The Czech captain found Sedlak, his linemate with Pardubice HC, in front with an open net.
Palat, who was shaken up earlier when he blocked a Colton Parayko blast, recovered to get a partial shorthanded breakaway after Shea Theodore’s stick broke, but couldn’t cash in.
At 14:49, Pastrnak atoned for his earlier error, giving Czechia a 2-1 lead on a power-play one-timer from his favourite spot in the left faceoff circle. It was the same spot from which the Boston Bruins superstar scored the gold-medal winner against Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague. This marked the first time Canada has trailed at these Olymipcs.
The Czechs targetted Crosby physically early in the second period. He left the game in visible discomfort after sustaining hits from Palat, Gudas, and Martin Necas. Canada picked up its pace in response and Dostal had to foil McDavid and Celebrini on consecutive chances.
"We felt a little sad for him, I guess," Suzuki said. "You never want to see anyone go down. Guys just needed to step up and do it for him and get the win for him."
Shortly after the midway mark, Czechia's Michal Kempny was penalized for roughing up MacKinnon during an extended corner scrum. MacKinnon made Czechia pay on the power play, taking a feed from McDavid and beating Dostal with a laser at 12:16.
Canada was carrying the play and picking up the hitting, as Drew Doughty laid out Pastrnak with a shoulder-to-chest crusher. But the Czechs hadn't lost their belief, as David Kampf rattled one off Binnington's right post. Suzuki then hit the iron moments later with a wide-open net. Shots were 17-5 Canada in the middle frame.
The Czechs mounted a push midway through the third, and it bore fruit at 7:42. On an odd-man rush, Necas, who was a force all night, fed the puck back to Palat, and he snapped it past Binnington's blocker for a 3-2 lead.
But Canada wasn't done. Suzuki got in on the forecheck for Canada and then got in front to tip Devon Toews' point shot through Dostal at 6:33 for a 3-3 tie.
"I didn't love my backcheck on the third goal [by Palat]," said Suzuki. "I think I could have gotten a better stick on that drop pass. After that, I had to try to step up and do something."
Necas had the game on his stick with just over a minute left in regulation when he stormed off on a breakaway after blocking a Toews point shot. However, Binnington denied the Colorado Avalanche star when he went to the backhand.
"There's so many big plays in that game that made it what it is," Marner said. "Nick's tying goal, Binnington's saves when we needed him, including that Necas breakaway in the third and a couple of big overtime ones. So I'm just happy to contribute."
Czech fans have long savored the memory of eliminating Canada from gold-medal contention at the first “NHL Olympics” in 1998. Dominik Hasek’s dazzling goaltending in the shootout – with stops on Theo Fleury, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros, Ray Bourque, and Brendan Shanahan – gave the Czechs a 2-1 semi-final win and enabled them to beat the Russians for gold. But this wasn't their day.
Canada’s all-time Olympic record versus the Czechs – in the post-Czechoslovakia era, dating back to the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games – rises to four wins, one tie, and two losses. The only encounter in that span to be decided by more than one goal was Canada’s 6-4 bronze-medal win at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Quarter-finals: Canada vs Czechia - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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