Canada 5, Czechia 1 - Group Stage Final

Czechia walked into the Canada game with the right storyline. Momentum had been restored after the Finland shutout and the group was still fluid. Carla MacLeod handed the net to Julie Pejšová for her Olympic debut, a massive moment for a young goalieThe problem was that Canada didn’t let the game breathe. They grabbed control early and never really gave it back, building a 4-0 first-period lead that effectively decided the result before Czechia could settle into its structure.

The pivot point came fast and it came in the most brutal way. Czechia had a chance to punch first, they failed to convert a 5-on-3 power play, and almost immediately the ice tilted the other direction.  Against Canada, you don’t get many “swing” moments, and if you don’t cash them, Canada cashes theirs. The Canadians rolled wave after wave, turning puck pressure into penalties and penalties into goals. Julia Gosling scored on a Czech penalty, and Canada’s depth did what it always does in these tournaments which is turn good process into inevitability.

The crease story became complicated, too. Pejšová’s debut was the emotional headline pregame, but it was also unforgiving. She was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals, with Michaela Hesová coming in as relief. That’s not an indictment of Pejšová so much as an illustration of what Canada does: they weaponize traffic, rebounds, and east-west passing. If Czechia’s layers are a half-step late, it looks like “bad goaltending” on paper when it’s often “too much clean chaos” in front.

Czechia did get something back however, with Natálie Mlýnková scoring the lone Czech goal, continuing what’s quietly become the most important offensive theme of this tournament. But the broader lesson matched Tereza Vanišová’s blunt postgame framing: “the first period killed us.” Against teams like Canada, you can survive being outshot. You can survive long shifts in your end. What you can’t survive is spotting them multiple goals before your legs and brain are synced to the pace.

There was also a major tournament subplot on the Canadian bench. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin took a heavy hit early from Kristýna Kaltounková, returned briefly, then didn’t play after the first period, overshadowing what was otherwise a comfortable win for Canada. It matters for the tournament big-picture, but for Czechia it doesn’t change much in the broader scheme of things.

So what does Czechia do with this? Weirdly, they can use it. The Switzerland game was a lesson in closing games. This Canada game is a lesson in starts, emphasis on discipline, emotional control, and surviving the first ten minutes without handing elite teams free oxygen. The good news is the tournament format still leaves room to write a better ending. The group stage is about seeding and learning; the quarterfinal is where identity becomes reality. If Czechia can pair the Finland version of their structure with a cleaner, calmer opening shift mentality, a medal game is certainly on the horizon.