Canada vs Czechia Prediction, Spread & Lineup News – Olympic Hockey Quarterfinal

• Team Canada is a large -1200 favorite vs Czechia in the hockey quarterfinal at Milano Cortina 2026
• It’s a Group A rematch, which Canada won handily 5-0 to start the tournament
• Read below for my Canada vs Czechia prediction, spread and lineup news for Wednesday below

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The top-seeded Canadians look to punch their ticket to Olympic Hockey’s Final Four when they take on Czechia on Wednesday.

Team Czechia will be playing on consecutive nights, after knocking off Denmark 3-2 in the qualification round, and are a massive underdog in the Olympic Hockey odds.

Puck drop is set for 10:40am ET from Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, with USA Net providing the broadcast coverage in the United States, while TSN1 and CBC Gem will carry the broadcast in Canada.

Canada vs Czechia Prediction

• Canada -2.5 (-185 at bet365)

The Canadians are a juggernaut, and they’ve hardly been challenged so far at Milan Cortina 2026, but we’ll see if they are able to stay as loose in a win-or-go-home scenario.

They dominated their opposition en route to clinching the top seed as the tournament moved to single elimination, outscoring teams 20-3 over their three-game set in Group play. One of those wins was a 5-0 win over Czechia, the opening match, where it could be argued Canada was just finding its sea legs.

There is so much offense to contend with up and down the lineup — so much so that it’s hardly been a concern that 1-time NHL MVP Nathan MacKinnon has struggled to get his line going, only finding success when paired with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini.

The latter two have been scorching earth in Italy: McDavid has tallied three points in each game so far, while Celebrini leads the team in goals with four. Six players rank inside the Top 25 in scoring with at least four points, while there are no less than 10 players with at least two points in this tournament.

Perhaps the only concern is in net, where Jordan Binnington let in a couple of goals in that blowout of France, on just 14 shots. Binnington could be a get-right game for him, as he shut them out in the opener, making 26 saves.

Team Czechia can’t get into a shootout with Canada and expect to come up aces. Offensively, Martin Necas’s line has been its best, with Necas leading the way with seven points.

However, David Pastrnak has only been so-so in Italy with four points in four games, while Tomas Hertl has yet to show up on the scoresheet this tournament.

You could argue that their advantage is in net, as Lukas Dostal has been both the busier and better goalie head-to-head with Binnington. His 22 saves in a choppy, ragged affair with Denmark was key to helping them adavance.

But it’s hard to imagine Dostal going all-world Wednesday, playing the second half of a back-to-back against the most potent offense in the world in the Canadians.

And Dostal let in five goals against the Canadians on 36 shots in the opener.

Barring a Binnington meltdown, I just don’t see a way Canada doesn’t win big Wednesday. They can outscore any bad goal, maybe even two — they’re that gifted.

Canada vs Czechia Odds

Odds as of Feb. 17 via Bet365. Check out SBD’s Bet365 promo code to bet on the 2026 Winter Olympics.

There’s very little value in taking Canada to win straight up: you’d need to wager $1,200 just to get a $100 return. A Czechia upset isn’t all that enticing, either, at +750.

The puckline is 2.5 goals, but the books are still wary of a Canada blowout, giving them -185 odds to win by three or more goals. If you think Czechia can stay inside three goals, it pays out at with decent +155 odds.

The total is set at 5.5 goals, and taking the Over still comes with not-so-great odds of -165. Taking the Under pays out at +140. Czechia has gone Under this total twice so far in this tournament, including against Canada.

Canada vs Czechia Lineup News

MacKinnon suffered what appeared to be a knee injury against France, and missed practice, though head coach Jon Cooper called it a maintenance day for MacKinnon and forward Sam Bennett.

Perhaps preparing for the possibility of MacKinnon sitting, Nick Suzuki was off the wing and at center on a line with Brandon Hagel and Sam Reinhart.

Josh Morrissey appears poised to return to 🇨🇦 lineup

Sustained an undisclosed injury in opening game of Olympics @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/XO8Px2oiWb

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 17, 2026

Brad Marchand, who’s missed the last two games, is also ready to go, and he was seen in practice on a fourth line skating with Bo Horvat and Seth Jarvis.

On defense, Josh Morrissey, who hasn’t played since getting hurt against Czechia, is good to go Wednesday.

Not a lot to report for Czechia, with forward Pavel Zacha out, and forward Radek Faksa listed as day-to-day. Defenseman Tomas Kundratek and G Karel Vejmelka are scratched from the lineup.