On Monday, Feb. 9, Canada and Czechia faced off for a preliminary match at the women’s ice hockey Olympic Tournament. This game marked Canada’s second of the tournament and Czechia’s fourth and final game. Canada won its first game, and Czechia currently had a win and two losses, including an overtime shootout loss.
Related: Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Women’s Hockey Tournament
By the end of the first period, Canada was the only team on the board with four goals, including one on the power play. Just seconds into the middle frame, Canada extended its lead to five goals. Czechia scored its first goal in the third period, but its attempt at a comeback was too little too late. Canada took the 5-1 win.
Canada’s Win Spoiled By Injuries
Canada is now undefeated in the 2026 Olympics, thanks to a 4-0 shutout win against Switzerland on Saturday and their 5-1 win over Czechia in this game. However, Canada sustained a couple of injuries that could impact them throughout the rest of the tournament.
Eight minutes into the first period, Kristyna Kaltounkova took a seat for an illegal hit on Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin. She went hard into the boards and favored her right leg. She was able to get off the ice on her own power but went down the tunnel to be evaluated. She returned to the bench for the second period but did not take the ice. Eventually, she left the bench and did not return to the game.
Immediately following Kaltounkova’s penalty, Sarah Fillier and Laura Stacey scored two goals within 39 seconds of each other to give Canada a three-goal lead. They couldn’t score on the power play opportunity, but they did at full strength right after.
Of course, here’s wishing for the best for Poulin, as you never want to see a player get injured, but especially on the international Olympic stage. She is arguably Canada’s best player, as she has helped her nation win three gold medals and one silver medal at the Olympics.
Kaltounkova and Poulin both play in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Kaltounkova for the New York Sirens and Poulin for the Montreal Victoire. It will be interesting to see what happens when the PWHL returns, as the Sirens will host the Victoire for the first game back on Feb. 26.
Poulin was not the only player to go down, as defender Erin Ambrose was also injured in this game. She left in the middle of the third period but returned towards the final minutes of the period. Canada can’t afford to lose any players, especially since they will take on their number one rival, the USA, tomorrow.
Special Teams Held Strong
In this game, there were 10 penalties, five for each team, and half of them were recorded in the first period. Canada took two penalties within the first three minutes and kept their penalty kill strong. Czechia took three penalties in the remaining 15 minutes of the first period. The first two penalties resulted in strong penalty kills, but Julia Gosling scored on the power play on Czechia’s third kill.
With seconds left in the same power play, Gosling scored her first goal; she scored again in the opening seconds of the second period. Both teams took one penalty each in this period and kept the penalty kill alive.
It was in the third period that Czechia finally made the most of the power play on their second-to-last extra-player opportunity of the game. Both teams took a penalty at the same time towards the middle of the game, but neither team scored when they had a player in the box.
Czechia Spoiled the Shutout
A late third-period goal put Czechia on the board with just 12 minutes left in the game. Natalie Mlynkova scored her third of the tournament in the dying seconds of Claire Thompson’s penalty. Tereza Vanisova and Kaltounkova recorded assists. Due to this goal, Mlynkova spoiled what could have been Canada’s second straight shutout in the tournament.
This late goal showed that Czechia didn’t give up, either. They were down by five goals, yet they still gave their all in to try to catch up. They were rewarded with one goal, but it just wasn’t enough to catch up in the end.
Canada Back on Tuesday
Canada will take on the USA tomorrow at 2:10 PM ET.
