Team Czechia holds off Denmark, advances to Olympic quarterfinals

MILAN -- Team Czechia will get another chance against Team Canada in the men’s hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortino 2026.

Martin Necas had a goal and assist, and the Czechs advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-2 victory against Team Denmark in the qualification round at Santaguilia Arena on Tuesday.

The tougher-than-expected win assures No. 8 Czechia a rematch against the top-seeded Canadians in the quarterfinals here on Wednesday (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, TSN, CBC). Canada shut out Czechia 5-0 on Feb. 12 in the preliminary round.

“Everybody kind of knew what we were playing for,” Czechia defenseman Jan Rutta said. “Maybe a little too cautious, too nervous. Super, super happy, super proud that we won today.”

Roman Cervenka also had a goal and an assist, and Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for Czechia.

“[Canada is] going to be a great challenge for us,” defenseman Radko Gudas said. “They are one of the best teams in the tournament, and for us it is a great challenge. It’s going to be fun. If we want to get the medal, we have to beat the best teams, and they are one of those teams.”

“If anybody can’t get motivated for the game tomorrow, there is something seriously wrong with them and I don’t think they should be playing hockey.”

Frederik Andersen made 28 saves, and Alexander True and Nick Olesen each scored for Denmark.

“[Czechia] a really good team,” Andersen said. “You have to play close to mistake-free hockey over a full game and they will capitalize on their chances.”

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Denmark-Czechia

After a tense and conservative first period without a goal, all five of the game’s goals were scored in the second period, four in a span of 5:45.

Necas gave Czechia a 1-0 lead on a power play at 5:39. With Lars Eller serving a high-sticking penalty, the Czechs worked the puck low-to-high until Filip Hronek passed it to Necas, who blasted a rising one-timer into the far corner.

“He’s the best player for us,” Czechia forward Tomas Hertl said of Necas. “But tomorrow it can’t be about just one [player]; if we have any chance against Canada, we need all four lines plus goalie. We have to be ready because Canada is winning this tournament, but you never know.”

True tied it 1-1 at 9:02 when he played give-and-go with Joachim Blichfeld, who was behind the goal line. The return pass was one-timed into the net before Dostal could react.

The Czechs retook the lead at 10:15 when David Kampf established position in the slot and outmuscled the defense to set his stick on a pass from Rutta and directing it past Andersen to make it 2-1.

“We had a set play off the face-off, so it was a good play by Rutta,” Kampf said. “He found me and it was basically an empty net, so I just put it in the net. Great pass by him.”

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Cervenka extended the lead to 3-1 at 11:24, taking a pass from David Pastrnak before going wide and wiring a high shot past Andersen’s glove.

Olesen cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 17:12. He received a pass from Oscar Fisker Molgaard at the goal line, spun into the slot and snapped a shot past Dostal.

Denmark outshot Czechia 12-5 in the third.

“It was huge. For us, this wasn’t an easy game,” Hertl said. When we got the lead, it was kind of tough when we give up that goal. But then ‘Dusty’ made some huge saves for us and we defended.”

Czechia has reached the quarterfinals in each of the six Olympics involving NHL teams. It next faces an enormous test Wednesday.

“They might be the best team ever, so maybe we have to put the respect aside a little bit,” Pastrnak said. “Take their game to them. Offensively, their power is incredible and we just have to be a little stronger on the puck, play more in the [offensive] zone and [be] more confident.”

“We have nothing to lose, so we are going to go out there and leave it all out there. Like I said, as a team, we haven’t played our best yet, so hopefully we saved it for tomorrow.”

NOTES: Necas has a three-game multipoint streak (six points; three goals, three assists) and tied Vinny Prospal (four goals, two assists in 2006) for the third-most points by a Czechia player in a single Olympics with NHL participation; he trails only Martin Straka (eight points; two goals, six assists in 2006) and Jaromir Jagr (seven points; two goals, five assists in 2006). … Hronek led all skaters with 27:53 of ice time. … Olesen finished with four goals for Denmark and is tied with Tim Stutzle (Team Germany) and Macklin Celebrini (Team Canada) for the tournament lead. The 30-year-old is the only non-NHL player here with more than one goal.