Team Canada survived a scare in the quarterfinals of the Olympics on Wednesday, beating Czechia 4-3 in overtime. But social media sleuths quickly figured out that a massive third-period goal from Czechia should not have counted. When Ondrej Palat scored to give them a 3-2 lead, there were too many men on the ice. Canada's Drew Doughty gave an NSFW response to the controversy.
“Not a single player, coach knew until after the game. Nobody. Yeah, we talked about it. We're like, ‘How did that get missed?' But I mean, we all missed it. It makes sense that the refs could miss it too. S*** happens,” Doughty said, per Frank Seravalli.
Czechia appears to have gotten away with a pretty blatant too-many-men infraction on Ondrej Palat’s 3rd period goal. 😳#MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/Skn0oHQj3B
— BarDown (@BarDown) February 18, 2026
Plenty of big late-game goals are scored with six skaters on the ice. But that only happens when a team pulls their goalie, pushing for offense when losing. But Czechia and Canada were tied when this goal was scored, and Lukas Dostal was still in the net. There were four forwards on the ice when Palat ripped the potential game-winner past Jordan Binnington.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported, “An IIHF spokesperson today said they reviewed it and obviously saw what we all saw, there was a missed called there. The IIHF says they went through a thorough process to select the on-officials for this tournament, the best of the best are here. But mistakes happen. The spokesperson said everyone involved has regrouped and are focusing on the rest of the tournament.”
What is next for Canada at the Olympics?
Czechia took the lead on that goal, but Canada was able to come from behind to snag the win. Nick Suzuki tipped home a goal with less than four minutes to go, forcing overtime. Then, Mitch Marner scored in overtime to win the game. Canada overcame the too-many-men penalty, advancing to the semifinals.
Canada will face Finland at 10:40 a.m. Eastern on Friday in the semifinals. The winner plays for the gold medal and the loser plays for bronze. The other semifinal is between Team USA, which also won in overtime, and Slovakia.
With the too many men controversy behind them, Team Canada and the entire nation turn their eyes to Sidney Crosby. The captain left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Crosby spoke to the team before the third period, and the team wanted to make sure it was not his last game in the Olympics. They did that, but there is no guarantee Crosby plays on Friday. Jon Cooper said the captain is day-to-day.
Will Jordan Binnington stay in goal for Canada? Or is a goalie switch coming?
