The Canadians will play for an Olympic medal after hanging on to defeat the Czech Republic in overtime on Wednesday. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
MILAN — Mitch Marner scored 1:22 into overtime to allow Team Canada to survive and win 4-3 against the Czech Republic in the Olympic quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Team Canada had to come back to tie the game twice and also survived the departure of captain Sidney Crosby midway through the game.
Crosby left the game midway through the second period with what Team Canada termed a lower body injury after taking two consecutive hits from Czech defenseman Radko Gudas. On the first hit along the boards at center ice, Crosby’s right leg appeared to fold underneath him as Gudas fell on him. Crosby looked like he was in pain but stayed on the ice, venturing into the offensive zone where he was once again met at the boards by Gudas, but Martin Nečas also sandwiched him against the boards.
Crosby returned to the bench slowly, sat briefly with a trainer and left for the Canada dressing room, never to return.
The Czechs led 2-1 at the time, and Crosby’s departure only added to a nation’s shock that Team Canada found itself in this predicament in its first elimination game of a tournament it is favored to win.
Canada had not trailed in an Olympic game with NHL players since the preliminary round of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, never trailing in the knockout round of that tournament or the entirety of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
And yet here they were, after winning three preliminary round games that were ultimately meaningless by a combined score of 20-3, sitting in the dressing room at first intermission facing adversity for the first time.
And then Crosby was gone.
But Canada rallied to tie the game on a goal by Nathan MacKinnon and again on a goal by Nick Suzuki with a bit more than three minutes left in regulation time, setting up the heroics in overtime.
This story will be updated.
Feb 18, 2026
Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle