At the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026, Team Czechia survived a tense qualification-round battle, edging Team Denmark 3-2 to punch its ticket to the men’s hockey quarterfinals — and set up a daunting rematch with top-seeded Canada.
No. 8 Czechia leaned on timely scoring and steady goaltending to secure the victory Tuesday at Santaguilia Arena. Martin Nečas led the charge with a goal and an assist, while Roman Červenka also contributed a goal and a helper. Goaltender Lukáš Dostál turned aside 24 shots to preserve the win.
The tougher-than-expected result ensures Czechia will get another crack at Canada in Wednesday’s quarterfinal (10:40 a.m. ET). Canada dominated the earlier preliminary-round meeting between the two nations, skating to a 5-0 shutout on Feb. 12.
Denmark, backstopped by Frederik Andersen and his 28 saves, refused to go quietly. Alexander True and Nick Olesen each found the back of the net, keeping the pressure on throughout.
After a cautious, scoreless opening period, the game exploded in the second with all five goals — four of them coming in a frantic 5:45 stretch.
Nečas opened the scoring at 5:39 on the power play. With Lars Eller in the box for high-sticking, Czechia worked the puck low to high before Filip Hronek slid it to Nečas, who hammered a rising one-timer into the far corner for a 1-0 lead.
Denmark answered at 9:02. True executed a crisp give-and-go with Joachim Blichfeld from behind the goal line, finishing the return feed with a quick one-timer past Dostál to tie the game 1-1.
Czechia regained control just over a minute later. At 10:15, David Kampf battled for position in the slot, muscling through defenders to redirect Jan Rutta’s pass beyond Andersen for a 2-1 edge.
Červenka stretched the lead to 3-1 at 11:24. Taking a pass from David Pastrnak, he skated wide and snapped a high shot over Andersen’s glove, giving Czechia breathing room.
Denmark clawed back before the intermission. On a power play at 17:12, Olesen accepted a feed from Oscar Fisker Molgaard near the goal line, spun into the slot and rifled a shot past Dostál to make it 3-2.
The third period was defined by Danish pressure. Denmark outshot Czechia 12-5 in the final frame, but Dostál stood tall, turning aside every attempt to secure the win.
With the victory, Czechia advances to the Olympic quarterfinals for the sixth time in tournaments featuring NHL players. Awaiting them is a massive challenge: a rematch against a Canadian squad that already proved its dominance earlier in the tournament.
This time, Czechia hopes the lessons learned from that 5-0 defeat — and the resilience shown Tuesday — will produce a different result on the Olympic stage.
