MILAN (AP) — With the clock ticking down and Canada trailing Czechia with mere minutes left in an elimination game at the Olympics, even the most hardened players with gold medals and Stanley Cup rings started to feel butterflies.
“I never had a doubt, but it was getting a little nerve-wracking,” grizzled defenseman Drew Doughty said.
After losing captain Sidney Crosby to injury, Canada was staring down what would have been a stunning quarterfinal exit until Nick Suzuki tied it on a deflection goal with 3:27 left. Then Mitch Marner scored a little over a minute into overtime to beat Czechia 4-3 on Wednesday and send the tournament favorite into the semifinals.
“Everybody had complete faith in whoever was going over the boards,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It just felt it was like a matter of time. It was going to happen.”
The nerves were palpable when Canada fell behind with 7:42 remaining on Ondrej Palat’s goal on an odd-man rush off a pass from Martin Necas. Replays showed Czechia had six skaters on the ice, which Nathan MacKinnon said he and his teammates were aware of, even if on-ice officials didn’t notice.
Suzuki just about did it all on the tying goal, sending the puck out to the point to Devon Toews and then redirecting the defenseman’s shot that was going well wide past Lukas Dostal and into the net.
“Toewser gave me a perfect opportunity to tip it,” Suzuki said. “Just trying to put something on net there.”
Jordan Binnington denied David Pastrnak on a breakaway with 70 seconds left to send the game past regulation. It was the biggest of Binnington’s 21 saves in an excellent performance from Canada’s starter.
Then Marner summoned some more heroics playing for Canada, scoring his second OT goal in an international tournament in as many chances. Marner also scored in a similar fashion a year ago at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“It’s the it factor, man: Mitch Marner’s got it,” Cooper said. “He doesn’t disappoint. Sometimes your hair falls out at times, but in the end, he never disappoints.”
Canada could now face Finland, Switzerland or Sweden in the semifinals Friday. The U.S. plays Sweden in the fourth and final quarterfinal on Wednesday night.