Switzerland closed out the preliminary round of the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics with a dramatic 4–3 overtime victory against Czechia on Sunday, as Dean Kukan scored the game-winner just 1:49 into the extra period at Santagiulia Arena in Milan.
Kukan finished a 2-on-1 rush with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to secure second place in Group A for Switzerland and deliver the first overtime decision of the tournament. The win came in Switzerland’s first game without star forward Kevin Fiala, who underwent surgery after suffering an injury late in a 5–1 loss to Canada earlier in the tournament.
Fiala had been taken off the ice on a stretcher with 2:50 remaining in the third period of that game after becoming tangled along the boards with Canada forward Tom Wilson. His absence was felt emotionally, but Switzerland responded with a resilient performance.
“Emotionally, it’s never easy seeing a guy go down like that with an injury like that, especially also he’s a big part of our group,” Swiss captain Nico Hischier said. “But I think once more today, we showed the character that we have. Props to those guys who were in the stands before and came in and lined up today — they played their heart out, and that’s what good teams do.”
Roman Josi and Timo Meier each recorded a goal and an assist for Switzerland (1-1-1-0), while goaltender Leonardo Genoni made 29 saves. Pius Suter also scored for the Swiss, netting his second goal of the tournament.
Czechia (1-0-1-1) was led by Martin Necas, who had a goal and two assists, and Filip Chlapik, who contributed a goal and an assist. Goaltender Lukas Dostal stopped 25 shots.
Czechia opened the scoring late in the first period when Chlapik finished an odd-man rush with a one-timer at 15:19 after a setup from Necas. Switzerland answered in the second period when Josi drove into the right circle and sent a backhand toward the net that deflected off defenseman Radko Gudas’ skate and slipped past Dostal at 16:53.
The Swiss took their first lead at 18:37 of the second period on a power play, with Meier backhanding in a rebound after Josi’s one-timer was stopped.
Czechia tied the game 2–2 at 6:33 of the third period when Radim Simek scored from the point after Necas recovered a loose puck and fed it back to the blue line. Switzerland regained the lead less than two minutes later, as Suter scored from the edge of the right circle at 8:07.
Late drama followed in the final minutes. Czechia appeared to equalize on a power play at 16:34, but the goal was waved off after David Pastrnak was ruled to have interfered with Genoni. With Dostal pulled for an extra attacker, Necas eventually tied the game for real at 17:54, firing a one-timer from the left circle to make it 3–3 and force overtime.
That set the stage for Kukan’s decisive moment early in the extra session, sending Switzerland into the qualifying playoffs with momentum.
The preliminary round concluded with the victory, and the playoff stage of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins Tuesday. Switzerland will move forward without Fiala on the ice, but his presence and importance to the team remain strong as the knockout rounds begin.
