Celebrini shines again on biggest stage as Canada earns heart-stopping win
San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini’s journey toward a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games continues. But just barely.
In the biggest game of his life so far, Celebrini had three points, including the primary assist on Mitch Marner’s overtime winner as Canada earned a heartstopping 4-3 win over Czechia in the men’s quarterfinals at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
In the 3-on-3 overtime, Celebrini sent a drop pass to Marner, who danced through three Czechia defenders — including former Sharks defenseman Radim Simek — before his backhand shot beat goalie Lukas Dostal.
Marner’s goal sent his teammates streaming onto the ice in celebration, and the Canadians into Friday’s semifinals against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
Czechia led 3-2 after Ondrej Palat scored at the 12:18 mark of the third period. Canada center Nick Suzuki then tied the game 4:15 later, redirecting a shot from Devon Toews past Dostal.
On his goal, Celebrini trailed Connor McDavid on a rush, took a back pass from the Edmonton Oilers superstar, and beat Dostal with a low snipe to give Canada a 1-0 lead 3:05 into the first period.
Celebrini’s goal gave him seven points for the tournament, passing Evgeni Malkin for the most points by a teenager in a single Olympic tournament with NHL players. Malkin, the longtime Pittsburgh Penguins star, had six points in seven games for Russia during the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.
Celebrini’s first assist came on a power play.
Taking the place of Sidney Crosby, who was injured in the second period, on Canada’s first unit, Celebrini fed McDavid with a pass below the goal line. McDavid then sent a pass in front to Nathan MacKinnon, who beat Dostal from the slot area to tie the game 2-2 at the 12:16 mark of the second period.
Celebrini’s goal was the only highlight for Canada in an otherwise dreary first period.
Just 5:29 after Celebrini’s goal, Lukas Sedlak, stationed in front of the net, redirected a pass from Roman Cervenka past an out-of-position Jordan Binnington to tie the game 1-1.
Then, with Celebrini serving an interference penalty, Czechia took a 2-1 lead as David Psstrnak one-timed a pass from Filip Hronek past Binnington with 5:11 left in the first period.
Celebrini also became the fourth player to record a goal in four consecutive Olympic games featuring NHL players, joining Marian Hossa (2006 with Slovakia), former Shark Teemu Selanne (2006 with Finland), and Mats Sundin (2002 with Sweden).
REGENDA LEADS SLOVAKIA INTO SEMIS
Sharks winger Pavol Regenda will be playing for a medal after scoring his first two goals of the Olympics to help lead Slovakia to a 6-2 win over Germany in the first quarterfinal.
Regenda opened the scoring at the 18:06 mark of the first period and his second goal 58 seconds into the third period gave Slovakia a 5-1 lead.
Regenda is tied for third on Slovakia’s roster in scoring with four points in four games.
The semifinals are on Friday, and Slovakia will face either the United States or the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between Switzerland and Finland. The Bronze Medal game on Saturday and the Gold Medal game on Sunday.
Regenda helped Slovakia win the Bronze Medal at the 2022 Games in Beijing.
“Coming into the tournament, seeing the roster, I don’t think anybody believed us,” Regenda told reporters. “And probably neither did we.
“Underdogs can bite really hard, so we are really happy where we are right now. Top four, unbelievable.”