Dean Kukan scored 1:49 into overtime to give Switzerland a 4-3 victory over Czechia in the Olympic men's hockey preliminary round. The win secured second place in Group A for Switzerland at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. Czechia, despite a late tying goal, now faces a tougher path to a medal.
The game took place on Sunday at Santagiulia Arena in Milan, marking Switzerland's first contest without forward Kevin Fiala. Fiala underwent surgery after a lower-body injury sustained in a 5-1 loss to Canada on Friday, when he was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 2:50 left in the third period.
Switzerland captain Roman Josi and forward Timo Meier each recorded a goal and an assist, while goaltender Leonardo Genoni made 29 saves. Czechia forward Martin Necas tallied a goal and two assists, and Filip Chlapik added a goal and an assist, with Lukas Dostal stopping 25 shots.
The scoring began in the first period when Chlapik gave Czechia a 1-0 lead at 15:19, finishing a one-timer on an odd-man rush assisted by Necas. Josi tied it 1-1 at 16:53 of the second period with a backhand that deflected off Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas and past Dostal. Meier then put Switzerland ahead 2-1 on a power-play goal at 18:37, backhanding a rebound of Josi's shot.
In the third period, Radim Simek tied it 2-2 at 6:33 by pouncing on a rebound. Pius Suter restored Switzerland's lead 3-2 at 8:07 with a shot from the right circle. Czechia had a potential tying goal disallowed at 16:34 due to David Pastrnak interfering with Genoni during a power play. Necas then equalized at 3-3 with 2:06 remaining, scoring on a one-timer with Dostal pulled for an extra attacker.
Kukan won it in overtime with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle on a 2-on-1 break. "I was first thinking about passing, but the shot was there," Kukan said.
Switzerland improved to 1-1-1-0, while Czechia fell to 1-0-1-1. Czechia's power play went 0-for-4 in the game and 1-for-8 overall in the preliminary round. "Tough loss, yeah," Pastrnak said. "Tough overtime, but we have to move on."
Switzerland has now won all three Olympic meetings against Czechia when NHL players participate, including in 2006 and 2014. Kukan became the second defenseman to score in overtime at such Olympics, following Drew Doughty in 2014. The quarterfinals begin Tuesday.
