Czech forward Martin Necas expressed excitement for the rematch, joking 'We let them win the first one because we knew we were not going to win two in a row against Canada.' Teammate David Pastrnak emphasized the need for the right mindset, stating 'It might be the best team ever, so maybe we have to put the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them.' Canada, as the top seed, faces Czechia, the lowest quarterfinal seed, on Thursday at 10:40 a.m. ET.
This marks the first Canada-Czechia men's hockey playoff game with NHL players at the Olympics since 1998, when Czechia won 2-1 in the semifinals.