Czechia sends strong message before hockey quarterfinals against Canada

Czechia punched its ticket to the quarterfinals by narrowly getting past Denmark 3-2 on Tuesday.

The Czechs will meet Canada there, a team that beat them 5-0 in the preliminary round when Jordan Binnington recorded a 26-save shutout. This matchup will take place on Wednesday at 10:40 a.m. ET.

"This might be the best team ever," Czechia's David Pastrnak said after beating Denmark, according to the Associated Press (via The Telegraph). "So, maybe let's put the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them. Offensively, their power is incredible. We have nothing to lose, so we're going to go out there and leave it all out there."

Martin Necas, David Kampf and Roman Cervenka scored, while Lukas Dostal, who made 24 saves, held firm against Denmark's late-game threat.

Asked about this rematch, Necas joked, "We let them win the first one because we knew we couldn't beat Canada twice in a row."

Czechia holds off Denmark late to advance to Olympic quarterfinals

After a scoreless first period, Necas finally broke the ice at 5:39 of the second. He became the first Czech to score in three consecutive Olympic editions with NHL players present.

Patiently, the Danes waited for errors to strike and tie the score. Alexander True intercepted the puck at the blue line after a turnover by Michal Kempny along the boards and surprised goaltender Lukas Dostal.

Two minutes later, Czechia retook the lead on a goal by David Kampf. The No. 64 was forgotten at the far post and Jan Rutta served him a perfect pass.

Lars Eller had to doubly blame himself since he was in the penalty box on the first goal and was at fault in his coverage on the second.

At 40 years old, Cervenka made it 3-1 in his fifth career Olympic Games. He caught a pass from David Pastrnak to skate in on Frederik Andersen, who had slid to his right, leaving an opening on the other side.

But the Danes had no intention of letting themselves be defeated, reducing the deficit to one goal before heading to the locker room. With 10 seconds left on the power play, Nick Olesen spun around to beat the goalie on the second wave. It was his fourth goal in four games. It was Olesen who scored the game-winning goal in Denmark's upset of Canada at the World Championship last year.

Denmark nearly tied the game on a breakaway by Oliver Bjorkstrand, who grazed the post to the left of Dostal with less than two minutes remaining in that eventful period.

Tomas Hertl received an untimely penalty for elbowing that opened the door for the Danes with 8:29 left in the game, but they could not take advantage, nor could they when they pulled the goalie.