Martin Necas is Czechia's difference-maker as they advance to the Olympic quarterfinal against Canada. His NHL opponents and Czech teammates know exactly how he thrives.
MILAN, Italy - The Czechs are on to the Olympic quarterfinal after holding off Denmark today, and once again, it was Colorado's Martin Necas as the difference-maker.
The Colorado Avalanche star has been excellent for the Czechs so far, scoring the opening goal and adding an assist in the 3-2 victory over the Danes. That gives him seven points through four games at the Olympics, tying him for second overall with Switzerland's Timo Meier (Canada's Connor McDavid is first with nine points in three games).
"It's because he has such good speed, and he wants the puck," said Czech teammate Tomas Hertl. "He can fly. You can see guys like (Nathan) MacKinnon and McDavid, that's why they have so much space because they fly in and stop on a dot. Marty is a great skater, and he's playing with confidence."
As a defenseman with Anaheim, Radko Gudas has been in the tricky position of defending against Necas before, and he's more than happy to wear the same jersey for the Czechs now.
"He's so hard to read," Gudas said. "He's been playing great. He's one of the reasons why we've made it so far, he's flying around the ice and dangerous every time he's on the ice. I'm happy to have him on our side."
Martin Necas stepped up for Czechia with the opening goal in the second period. (Amber Searls-Imagn Images)Necas was held off the scoresheet in the opener against Canada, but so were all of the Czechs in the 5-0 shutout. In that game, he played on a super-line with Hertl and David Pastrnak, but coach Radim Rulik has opted to spread around his top guns since. Against Denmark, the three were all on separate lines, and Necas still thrived. The right winger is also healthy now, which obviously helps.
"I was coming here hurt," Necas said. "I didn't play for two or three weeks before. So it's nice to get it going again."
His blast on the power play against Frederik Andersen opened the scoring in the second period, and what had been a rather staid affair really opened up, with all five goals being scored in that middle frame.
"That was a beautiful shot," Hertl said. "He's working on it every day and has scored many during the season. He likes to shoot it on the glove side on the power play, and he's carrying us right now."
The Czechs will need all their players to step up like Necas for their next opponent: Canada. They know they're underdogs against the North American titans, but at least Necas has a sense of humor about facing the Canadians again in Milan.
"We let them win the first one because we knew we weren't going to win two in a row against Canada," he said with a smile. "We just have to play smart. We can't take penalties like we did today. We're going to give our best. This is maybe the biggest game of our lives, and we're excited."
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