MILAN – Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby exited Wednesday’s 4-3 quarterfinal win against Czechia with a lower-body injury. The 38-year-old centre’s knee bent awkwardly as he tried to avoid a hit from defenceman Radko Gudas early in the second period.
“It’s obviously hard to watch your captain go down and not return,” said alternate captain Connor McDavid, who produced two assists on Wednesday to raise his tournament-leading total to 11 points. “Hopefully he’s OK, but it’s tough. There’s no way around it. But I thought our group responded well.”
With the game tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Crosby addressed his teammates during the intermission. The main message?
“Go get it, boys,” coach Jon Cooper revealed. “There was a lot more than that, but he’s a true leader. They didn’t want this to be the end of the tournament for him … It was a big motivator for our guys coming out.”
“He had just great things to say about our team and [having] confidence in us going into that third,” said winger Mitch Marner, who scored the overtime winner.
Crosby is due to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. A further update is expected when Canada holds an optional practice at 6:15 am ET on Thursday.
“We rallied around him,” said winger Seth Jarvis. “We know he’s going to want to come back and play so we’re just making sure he gets another game. That’s our mentality right now.”
Team Canada is expected to have an update on Sidney Crosby on Thursday.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 18, 2026
Canada wins… but loses captain Crosby, what’s next? Canada narrowly escaped with the overtime victory over Czechia but also lost captain Sidney Crosby in the process. What’s next with Crosby’s status unknown? Frankie Corrado and Bruce Boudreau join SportsCentre to discuss.
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Trailing 2-1, Canada pushed hard in the second period after Crosby left the game and eventually scored to tie it courtesy a Nathan MacKinnon power-play goal.
But the third period was tight and the tension rose with each passing minute. Czechia grabbed a 3-2 lead on a goal by Ondrej Palat with 7:42 remaining. The Czechs actually had six skaters on the ice during the play, but somehow no one seemed to notice.
Among everyone here who didn’t see it, including it seems the Canadian bench, were most of the Czechs. Just talked to a bunch of their players who had no idea. Were shocked when I showed them the screenshots. Only one acknowledged he knew they had 6 on. https://t.co/wFVusESip3
— James Duthie (@tsnjamesduthie) February 18, 2026
Canada struggled to generate much in the ensuing minutes. Enter Nick Suzuki. With Crosby sidelined, the Montreal Canadiens captain shifted back to his natural centre position on a line with Marner and Mark Stone.
“Nick got better as the game went on,” Cooper said. “He had to play a big role when Sid went out.”
Suzuki missed a golden opportunity in the second period when he had an open net to shoot at and hit the post. He was also on the ice when Palat scored the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Suzuki seemed determined to change his luck during a shift late in the third. Stone and Marner went to the bench for a change, but Suzuki dumped a puck into the Czech zone and won a battle with Filip Hronek to retain possession. He then fed Devon Toews at the point and deflected home the ensuing shot from the defenceman.
“It felt amazing,” Suzuki said. “I missed the one empty netter backdoor in the second there and I kind of wanted my backcheck back there on their third goal. I knew I needed to make the most of my next opportunity. I was just trying to do the right thing and get to the net and get my stick on it.”
“That was an elite play,” said winger Brad Marchand. “I don’t know where he was at in his shift, but the fact he got that in by himself, created the forecheck and won a battle, allowing those guys to get in — it’s not just the tip, it’s the entire play.”
“Our country needed a goal,” Cooper said. “Nick Suzuki answers.”
‘It felt amazing’: Suzuki happy to redeem himself after missing open net Nick Suzuki discusses his excitement to score the tying goal late in the third period and why it was a relief after he missed a wide open net in the second period.
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Czechia had a glorious chance to regain the lead with just over one minute remaining in regulation, but Jordan Binnington stopped Martin Necas on a breakaway. The St. Louis Blues goalie denied the initial chance as well as a rebound.
“He was great again in the big moments,” McDavid said. “That’s what he does.”
Binnington also denied defenceman Radim Simek on a point-blank chance early in overtime.
Just like in overtime of the 4 Nations Face-Off final last year, Binnington saved his best for last.
“When we really needed him, he was there,” Marner said. “That’s something you can always trust in Binner.”
Milano Cortina 2026: Men’s Hockey – Canada 4, Czechia 3 (OT) Team Canada got a scare from Czechia but Mitch Marner scored in overtime to send the Canadians through to the semifinal in a thrilling contest at The Winter Olympic Games. The Canadians fought back from a goal down twice to seal the comeback.
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On the second shift of overtime, 19-year-old phenom Macklin Celebrini dropped a pass to Marner, who skated through the neutral zone with speed. He dodged Simek and former Leafs teammates David Kampf and Ondrej Kase before sending a backhand shot over the shoulder of goalie Lukas Dostal.
“Mac gave it back to me and, honestly, I was trying to see if I could kick it out to him on the blue line there because I saw he kind of had time,” Marner said. “I was looking to make a play to him and saw two guys cheat over to it. So, I just tried to jump into the hole and lucky enough I was able to. And then, from that moment on, tried to put it to a spot that I could get it back, and then made a quick move and got it on and off my stick on the backhand to the far side.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect him to go all the way through the middle like that,” Dostal said. “I believed he was reaching for the puck so I didn’t think he had a [hold] of it. The puck stood up on him so that’s why he was able to lift the puck. I thought he was reaching for the puck.”
Marner also scored a 3-on-3 overtime winner against Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off on a similar play. He experienced a similar feeling of “shock and excitement” on Wednesday, but this goal was much bigger for a couple reasons. Canada, of course, needed it to stay alive at the Olympics, but there was also the family factor.
“Now it’s even more special,” Marner said. “I have my son here with me. He’s pretty young [born last May]. He probably won’t remember. He’s probably sleeping on mom, but it will be something cool to look back at one day with him and show him where he was and what he was doing in this moment.”
Marner’s mom cradled little Miles as Marner and Team Canada celebrated on the ice on Wednesday night.
“There were so many little moments in that game that resulted in that one moment,” Marner said. “Massive saves by Binner. Massive goal by Suzuki and then Binnington again with a massive save on Necas there at the end of the third. Happy to [play] a part in that game.
‘That was a hell of a hockey game’: OT hero Marner details QF win Overtime hero Mitch Marner describes the play to end things against Czechia, and shares how Canada pulled together when Sidney Crosby went down to injury. Marner also said that their captain spoke to the team between periods to give the guys confidence.
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Wednesday’s game was much closer than the preliminary round opener when Canada shutout Czechia 5-0.
“You could tell today there were some moments they could shoot and they did the extra move and it just happens,” Dostal said. “We experienced it yesterday when we played Denmark. When you have to win you kind of, I don’t want to say become a little shaky, but you have it in your head so you do that extra move. That’s what I felt like Canada sometimes did today, but we couldn’t finish.”
Canada did not trail in the preliminary round while racking up wins of 5-0, 5-1 and 10-2 over Czechia, Switzerland and France. So, Wednesday represented the team’s first true taste of adversity in Milan.
“We knew there was going to be moments like this throughout the tournament,” said McDavid. “It’s what it’s all about. It’s what best-on-best provides and we knew it was coming. I like how we responded.”
“A lot of guts there,” said defenceman Cale Makar, who played a team high 26 minutes and 41 seconds. “I mean, Marns to be able to split the D and go in there. And then, before overtime, I feel like, for us, it was just sticking with it. We knew we would get some chances at some point and we just had to capitalize and guys were starting to get to the net.”
What did it feel like when Marner finally stopped the clock?
“Massive relief and extreme excitement,” Marchand said. “We came here with a goal in mind and. in these tournaments where it can end on a bounce, it’s stressful. But it’s exciting.”
‘A lot of guts there’: Makar explains what helped propel Canada to nervy win over Czechia After Canada’s thrilling win over Czechia in the quarter-finals, Cale Makar spoke about Team Canada trying to find their way through the game against a difficult opponent.
Canada will now take on Finland in Friday’s semifinal. They are expecting more drama in the medal round.
“This is the Olympic Games,” said Cooper. “This is the best of the best. This is why all the players want to come to this, because they want to show who they are, and they want to flex. And if you think you’re rolling through this tournament, you’re sorely mistaken. Yes, we like the fact that we won the first three games and didn’t have to play the qualification game. Hell yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna keep on winning. It doesn’t mean because you got the Maple Leaf on your jersey that, ‘Hey, oh my gosh, you’re gonna be first.’ You’ve got to work to that. And the guys in there know it.”