Suzuki clutch goal, Slafkovsky ahead

Published on: 19 2 月, 2026 by admin

Juraj Slafkowski and Nick Suzuki will both reach the semi-finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, giving Montreal Canadiens fans even more reasons to keep a close eye on the important tournament.

(NB Due to rights issues, some highlights may not be available in your country. To watch highlights in the United States, be sure to check out the NBC Olympics Twitter feed)

slovakia advance

In the first quarterfinal of the day, Slafkovsky and Team Slovakia defeated Team Germany 6–2. As a result, the courageous Slovaks have punched their ticket to the semi-finals.

Slafkowski recorded an assist in the game, as former hub Tomas Tatar scored an empty-net goal to put the game out of reach for the Germans. This brought his tournament totals to an impressive three goals and four assists in seven games, moving him into third place in Olympic scoring along with Swedish forward Lucas Raymond, Swiss forward Timo Meyer and German star Leon Draisaitl.

The semi-finals of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games take place on Friday, although it remains to be seen which opponent the Slovaks will face in one of the most important hockey games in the country's history.

What we do know is that they represent one of the most cohesive and well-built teams at the Olympics, which is quite a feat, considering that Slovakia has a population of less than six million.

Canada sneaked in quietly

Maclin Celebrini's early goal opened the scoring for Team Canada, although we have to give Connor McDavid enough credit as he found his young teammate after a brilliant steal, not to mention a brilliant pass.

However, it was the Czechs who took over in the pace department after the Celebrini marker.

Czechia not only responded with a goal, but also took a 2–1 lead over Canada before the first intermission. It was the first time since 2010 that Canada fell short of the best of the best at the Olympics.

Things went from bad to worse, when Sidney Crosby was forced to leave the game after some heavy contact through Radko Gudas.

Thankfully for Canada, they were gifted a relatively unwanted power play, giving them a perfect opportunity to tie the game midway through the second period. Nathan MacKinnon made no mistake, equalizing the game with a spectacular shot and easily fooling Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal.

Suzuki had a great chance to give Canada the lead in the final minutes of the second frame, but the Montreal Canadiens captain hit the post, tying the score at the second intermission.

With the Czechs leading 3–2 with just a few minutes left to play, Suzuki saved himself and put together one of the best innings by a Canadian player in the entire Olympic tournament.

He kept the puck alive in the offensive zone by outrunning his defenders, and then made his way to the front of the net, where he drained a point shot to tie the game for a very nervous Canadian team.

(To view this highlight in the United States, please click this link)

do or die

With the game on the line, former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner decided to score the biggest goal of his career, beating all three Czech players on the ice before firing a perfect backhand shot past Dostal to secure a 4–3 win.

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Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The... More about Mark Dumont
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