Marner OT goal caps Canada comeback against Czechia in Olympic quarterfinals

MILAN -- Team Canada survived its biggest scare of the men's hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortino 2026, winning a 4-3 overtime thriller against upset-minded Team Czechia in a quarterfinal game at Santaguilia Arena on Wednesday.

Mitch Marner scored the winning goal 1:22 into overtime after Nick Suzuki tied the game for top-seeded Canada with 3:27 remaining.

Canada plays a to-be-determined team in the semifinal, which is here Friday.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Czechia-Canada

Macklin Celebrini had a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon scored, and Connor McDavid has two assists for Canada. Jordan Binnington made 20 saves.

Canada played the final 35 minutes of the game without captain Sidney Crosby, after he sustained a lower-body injury on a hit from Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas at 4:55 of the second period.

David Pastrnak, Lukas Sedlak and Ondrej Palat scored, and Roman Cervenka had two assists for the eighth-seeded Czechs. Lukas Dostal made 36 saves.

Palat gave Czechia a 3-2 lead with 7:42 remaining in the third with a one-timer off a pass from Martin Necas.

MacKinnon made it 2-2 on the power play at 12:16 of the second period, taking a pass in the slot from McDavid and burying it past Dostal. Michal Kempny was in the penalty box for an offensive-zone interference penalty.

Pastrnak scored a power-play goal at 14:49 of the first to make it 2-1, marking not only the first time Canada had trailed in four games at this tournament, but the first time they had trailed in an Olympics involving NHL players since the preliminary round of the 2010 Vancouver Games.

With Celebrini in the penalty box for interference, the Czechs worked the puck around the zone. Cervenka passed it to the point where Filip Hronek dished it to Pastrnak at the face-off dot to the right of Binnington for a successful one-timer.

Celebrini gave Canada a 1-0 lead at 3:05 when he took a drop pass from McDavid and hammered it home for a tournament-leading fifth goal. He became the fourth player to score a goal in four straight Olympic games involving NHL players (Marian Hossa, Slovakia, and Teemu Selanne, Finland, in 2006; Mats Sundin, Sweden, in 2002).

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

Czechia tied the game 1-1 at 8:34 when Sedlak drove hard to the front of the net and a pass from Cervenka deflected off his skate and past Binnington. Gudas keyed the play with an interception at center ice and a rush into the Canada zone.

Team Canada has won 14 straight Olympic games involving NHL players, including eight straight games in the playoff round dating to 2010. They also defeated Czechia 5-0 in the opening game of group play six days ago.