The Canadians will be concerned about the injury status of their captain, Sidney Crosby

PublishedFebruary 18, 2026 2:00 PM EST•UpdatedFebruary 18, 2026 4:53 PM EST

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The Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinals are underway, and we have a thriller between the Canadians and Czechia.

Canada managed to survive a massive scare, but may now have to move on to the semifinals without captain Sidney Crosby.

This game saw the Canadians fall behind 2-1 in the first period, which was the first time they had trailed all tournament. 

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While Canada comes in as the gold medal favorite, falling behind a wildly talented Czechia team that won an IIHF World Championship in 2024 was a challenge.

That challenge got even tougher when Crosby appeared to sustain a lower-body injury falling a couple of big checks, including one from Czechia defenseman and Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas.

He is known as “The Butcher” for a reason, and worse yet, for the Canadians, it was announced that Crosby would not return after heading to the locker room.

That’s a major loss for the Canadians on a few levels. Crosby has more Olympic experience than pretty much anyone else on the roster, and of course, brings a lot of leadership to the table.

Plus, losing a top-line center is a big problem in a beer league, let alone at the Olympic Games.

It remains to be seen if he’ll be ready for the semifinals, but the Canadian captain not returning is a concern.

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However, his teammates battled back to tie the game at 2-2, then knotted it at 3-3 with just 3 minutes or so left in regulation.

It was on to overtime, and it didn’t take too long once the 3-on-3, ten-minute extra frame got started for Mitch Marner to call the game with an unreal individual effort.

What a backhander. That’s probably the biggest goal he has ever scored with a maple leaf on the front of his jersey.

So Canada moves on, but you can be sure that they will be anxiously awaiting an update on Crosby’s condition.