Montreal Canadiens fans had every reason to tune into the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, as it was the day of the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, the Canadiens fanbase watched Juraj Slafkovsky and Slovakia advance to the semifinals after a 6-2 win over Germany. Next up on the slate was Canada, featuring Montreal captain Nick Suzuki.
It was a nightmare of a game for Canada, as they watched Sidney Crosby exit the game with a lower body injury after taking a hit from Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas. But then, midway through the third period, Czechia took a 3-2 lead on a goal from Ondrej Palat. It looked as though Canada, the favorites to win the gold medal, were on the brink of getting eliminated in the quarterfinal round.
But that was until Suzuki played the role of hero with under five minutes remaining in regulation. Suzuki skated with the puck behind the net, passed it to Seth Jarvis, who then dished it to defenseman Devon Toews, who unleashed a slap shot towards Czechia goalie Lukas Dostal. Suzuki propped himself in front of the net and tipped Toews' slap shot past Dostal to tie the game 3-3 and ultimately force overtime.
Nick Suzuki game-tying goal sets up Canada's overtime win over Czechia
What a moment for Suzuki, as he redeemed himself after missing out on an empty net shot earlier in the game. He officially helped give Team Canada an extra burst of momentum, allowing them to escape with an overtime win.
Suzuki was far from the only player on Canada to play the role of hero. Goalie Jordan Binnington came up with an incredible save on Czechia's Martin Necas on a breakaway in the closing moments of the third period. That forced a 10 minute overtime period, which featured three vs. three hockey. It didn't take long for Canada to end matters, as former Toronto Maple Leaf Mitch Marner skated past all three Czechia players and sent a backhand shot past Dostal to pick up the 4-3 victory.
Canada was far from their comfort zone, especially after dominating in the group stage of the tournament. Trailing 2-1 in the first period after David Pastrnak's goal, it was officially the first time that Canada had trailed in best-on-best hockey in the Olympics since 2010. Add Crosby's exit and a motivated Czechia team, and Canada was on firm upset alert.
Before this game, Suzuki had one goal through three group stage games.
It will be interesting to see if Canada will have to alter their forward lines if Crosby is to miss any time. As of this writing, head coach Jon Cooper didn't have an update on Crosby's injury. If he is to miss the semifinals at minimum, one has to wonder if Suzuki will slot into Crosby's spot. We should get a better idea of the Canada's star's status Friday's semifinal game in the coming hours.
Suzuki is competing in his first Olympics, and he now has a memory that will last forever, and that's helping Canada escape the quarterfinals with a clutch, game-tying goal late in the third period.