After opening the Olympics, being shut out by Canada, that left very little wiggle room for Czechia in terms of going forward. Canada overpowered Czechia, 5-0, on Thursday, and it was a quick turnaround for David Pastrnak and his teammates on Friday.
Facing a pesky France team, Czechia needed a regulation win in the worst way with their final game against Switzerland looming on Sunday. Czechia was down on Bruins center Pavel Zacha after he was ruled out earlier this week, leaving his health in question for Boston following the break.
Pastrnak looked very tired at the end of the game against Canada, and you wonder what he wondered what he would have left in the tank 24 hours later. Turns out, he had a lot, and he helped Czechia secure a regulation win, 6-3, over France, which was a scare midway through the game.
Bruins star David Pastrnak helps Czechia beat France in 2026 Olympics
Czechia opened the scoring on a Martin Necas power play goal in the first period, assisted by Pastrnak. Then France put a scare in Czechia by scoring three of the next four goals for a 3-2 second-period lead. Not what a lot of people had on their bingo cards in this game.
However, as he has done so many times with Boston, Pastrnak was able to tie the game at 13:23 of the middle period, which jump-started four straight Czechia goals that gave them a commanding 6-3 advantage.
Former Bruins goalie Dan Vladar, who now plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, made nine saves on 12 shots, but it was more than enough to help his team rally to secure a huge victory in regulation. Now all eyes turn toward Sunday morning when Czechia plays Switzerland at 6 a.m. EST. Anaheim Ducks goalie Lukáš Dostál, who played against Canada the day before, will likely get the nod between the pipes in what is a huge game.