Czechia’s men’s hockey team’s game vs. France was a battle of which team would score their first points of the preliminaries, so there were major implications for the playoff round. It was Czechia who came out victorious, defeating France 6-3. The French team had Czechia on the ropes, leading 3-2 with 5:54 in the second period, but Czechia scored four unanswered goals to win.
There were moments in the game that was tightly contested for France and Czechia, although the first didn’t look like it’d be that way. A Martin Necas power-play goal at 5:56 and a Michal Kempny score at 13:04 made it 2-0 by the end of the first period.
Then, the French went on a major run in the second period. Louis Boudon scored two straight, first on the power play at 1:01 and then at 4:04 in the period of even strength. His two goals knotted it up at two apiece, and then Hugo Gallet knocked one in at 5:54 in the second period to lead it 3-2.
That was all the gas the French had, as Czechia proceeded to score four unanswered, including two in the second to take the lead. The first was from David Pastrnak at 13:23 in the second, and then Matej Stransky scored a shorthanded goal at 19:28 in the second to get the lead back.
The third period saw just two goals: a Filip Chlapik slapper five seconds in and a Roman Cervenka goal at 1:23 in the period. Czech goaltender Dan Vladar blanked France the rest of the way to reach the final score.
Stars Paved the Way for Czechia
The Czech men’s ice hockey team drew a lot of excitement from this season due to the high-end talent on their roster, and in their second matchup of preliminaries, they definitely delivered. Colorado Avalanche superstar Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and Boston Bruins star winger David Pastrnak also had a goal and an assist.
Related: Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men’s Hockey Tournament
Unfortunately, Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl was blanked on five shot attempts, but other NHL depth players, like New York Islanders winger Ondrej Palat and Ottawa Senators 2015 second-round pick Filip Chlapik, helped out Hertl in a big way. The Czechs have the high-end forward talent to compete with any team in the Olympics, and they showed it here.
Louis Boudon Was Fun to Watch
It’s great to see some unknown players emerge into greatness in events like these. Take French winger Boudon. The 27-year-old has been in the AHL (American Hockey League) and ECHL, but he hasn’t made it to the NHL yet. He’s currently on Mikkelin Jukurit, a team in the Finnish league Liiga.
When Boudon got his shot to play in front of an international audience in Milan, he thrived, scoring two goals in this game. He’s always had offensive talent, which is evident by the 12 goals, 18 assists, and 30 points he put up for the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators in the 2025-26 season before moving to Finland.
Now, he finally gets to show the world his talent. He could get a better shot at the NHL from performances like this.
Czechia’s Goalie Tandem Can’t Hold Down the Fort Forever
Another thing that brought excitement for the Czech national team was the pairing they have in net (From ‘Could the Czech Republic’s goaltending make it an Olympic men’s hockey dark horse?’ – The Athletic, 2/9/2026). Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal, paired with Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar, should’ve helped Czechia cushion a back end pretty sparse on NHL talent.
So far, that hasn’t happened. Vladar didn’t have his best showing against France, stopping just nine of 12 shots. Meanwhile, Dostal had the unenviable task of playing the Canadian team, and he allowed five goals on 36 shots. That’s an .861 SV% (save percentage), so he did well to stop most of them, but it’s not ideal to even face 36 shots in a game.
Related Link: 3 Takeaways from Canada’s 5-0 Win over Czechia
The back end of Czechia needs to step up for them to approach gold this year. Chlapik and Michal Kempny have had their moments, but Radko Gudas and Filip Hronek need to step up to the task too.
Schedule
France ends their preliminary with a matchup against Canada, who’s vying to be the No. 1 team in Group A. If France loses, they could be in one of the bottom four spots in the playoff.
Czechia is dealing with the same thing. They’re playing Switzerland, who faces Canada at 3:10 p.m. ET on Feb. 13 to be in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 team in Group A. If Switzerland loses, Czechia can beat the Swiss again and be the No. 2 team in Group A.
