MILAN – Canada needed extra time to reach the medal round in men’s hockey at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Mitch Marner scored a dramatic winner at 1:22 of 3-on-3 overtime as the country battled back from a late 3-2 deficit, and survived the loss of captain Sidney Crosby, to pick up a 4-3 victory over Czechia in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
The Vegas Golden Knights winger sliced through the Czech defence and roofed a backhand to send the Canadian contingent in Italy into a frenzy.
Macklin Celebrini, with a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki provided the rest of the offence for Canada. Connor McDavid added two assists. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.
Lukas Sedlak, David Pastrnak and Ondrej Palat replied for Czechia, which topped Denmark 3-2 in Tuesday’s qualification round to make the quarters. Lukas Dostal stopped 36 shots. Roman Cervenka chipped in two assists.
Tied 2-2 in the third, Palat took a pass from Martin Necas on an odd-man rush and fired home from the slot past Binnington at 12:18.
Canada desperately pressed for the tie, and Suzuki got a stick on a Devon Toews point shot with 3:27 left in regulation.
Binnington then denied Necas on a breakaway with Toews backchecking hard with 70 seconds remaining on the clock to set up the extra period.
Crosby was injured five minutes into the second period after his right leg bent in an awkward direction after taking a hit from Czech defenceman Radko Gudas near centre.
The 38-year-old got back to his skates, but wasn’t moving well before taking more contact along the boards from Gudas and Necas. Crosby, who set the all-time record for points by a Canadian NHLer at the Olympics in Sunday’s 10-2 victory over France with a total of 16, made his way to the bench and eventually limped to the locker room.
McDavid’s two points gave him 11 for the tournament, tying the record for points by an NHL player at a single Games with Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, who both reached the number at the 2006 event in Turin, Italy.
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The early quarterfinal at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena saw Slovakia top Germany 6-2. Finland played Switzerland at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena later Wednesday before the United States met Sweden at Santagiulia.
Canada, which blanked Czechia 5-0 to open its tournament on the way to finishing as the No. 1 seed with a plus-17 goal differential, came out flying and grabbed a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period when McDavid stole the puck from Pastrnak and found Celebrini in front for his fifth goal of the tournament.
Celebrini’s seven points in four games pushed him past Evgeni Malkin (six points in seven contests in 2006 with Russia) for the most points by a teenager in a single Olympic tournament with NHLers.
The Czechs, with a roster mix of NHLers and European-based pros, started to push back and evened things at 8:34 after Mark Stone turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Canada got mixed up on its change, and Cervenka took a pass from Gudas before delaying and picking out Sedlak for a tap-in.
Celebrini was then whistled for interference after Czechia killed the game’s first penalty, including a good chance off Crosby’s stick.
Cervenka fired a shot off the crossbar, but Pastrnak blasted a one-timer at 14:49 to put the Canadians down at an Olympics with their NHL stars for the first time since the 2010 Games in Vancouver – a stretch of more than 800 minutes.
Cale Makar hit the post for Canada four minutes into the second period. Crosby’s injury moments later went to the Canadians’ legs as they flexed hard for an equalizer.
Canada finally made it 2-2 at 12:16 on a power play when Celebrini and McDavid teamed up to find MacKinnon, who changed the angle and threaded a shot in off Dostal’s far post inside a crackling rink peppered with Czech flags and red Maple Leafs.
The Canadians started to impose their will on the physical side, with Drew Doughty thumping Pastrnak to the ice. David Kampf hit the post for the Czechs, and Suzuki found iron at the other end on a wide-open net.
Canada was without defenceman Josh Morrissey (undisclosed injury) for a third consecutive game, while Brad Marchand re-entered the lineup for Sam Bennett after sitting out the final two preliminary round games. Morrissey and Bennett both skated Wednesday morning.
Canada won Olympic gold with its NHL stars in 2002, 2010 and 2014 before the league skipped the 2018 event. A planned return in 2022 was shelved by COVID-19 concerns.
The Czechs’ only victory over Canada at an Olympics with NHLers came in a memorable semifinal shootout at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, when Wayne Gretzky wasn’t picked for an attempt.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
