Welcome to Last Word On Hockey’s Olympic Predictions. Each day, our writers here at Last Word On Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the third qualification playoff between Denmark and Czechia. Don’t forget to check out more Olympic Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the Olympics.

2026 Winter Olympic Predictions Denmark vs Czechia

Head-to-Head: Czechia 8 – 3 Denmark

Time: 10:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

How to Watch: Canada: CBC, CBC Gem, Sportsnet, TSN | USA:Peacock, USA Network

Olympic Venue: Milana Santaguila Arena in Milan, Italy

It will be the third qualification playoff game of the day at the Olympics, and the winner will go on to face the Canadians in the quarterfinals. In a tournament such as this, special teams are key for either side to move on to the next round. Both sides struggled on the power play in the preliminary round, combining for just two goals on 14 attempts. Both teams are evenly matched, which is fitting as this is the eighth vs. ninth playoff.

Do or Don’t for Czechia

Czechia wasn’t supposed to be in this scenario when the tournament began. With the opening shutout loss to Canada, a scare in the second period against France, and an overtime loss to the Swiss meant that Czechia finished the group stage in eighth place. On the plus side, they will be designated the home team and can control the matchups that they want on the ice.

As mentioned before, the special teams are a concern for Czechia. Over the group stage, they went 12.5% on the power play and a dismal 57.1% on the penalty kill. That number on the penalty kill isn’t necessarily the best indicator, as they took several penalties against Canada. Lukas Dostal is expected to get the start in this one, as he backstopped the majority of Czechia’s games. Martin Necas has finally broken through in the scoring department, now up to five points in the tournament. Czechia will be continuing to look in his direction with teams focused on stopping David Pastrnak.

Denmark Looking for the Upset

The Danish finished third in their group behind Germany and the USA, managing to play well considering the level of their opponents. Under the right circumstances, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Denmark pull off an upset and book a ticket to the quarterfinals. For that to happen, their goaltender will have to stand on his head. Likely starter Frederik Andersen can steal a game for Denmark. Nick Olesen and Nikolaj Ehlers lead the Danish in scoring with four and three points respectively. The Danish will be looking for more out of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Lars Eller.

Predictions

This will be a very close game unless Czechia unlocks its true power and plays like the team we expected in the tournament. That said, the stars show up for Czechia and win to face Canada.

Prediction: Czechia wins 4-2

Best Bets

We’ll wrap up this edition with providing our best bets. For the game the over/under is set at 5.5, we will take the over for this one.

Setting up some prop bets for Czechia, we’ll be looking at Tomas Hertl for an anytime goal. On the Denmark side, we’ll look to Oliver Bjorkstrand also for an anytime goal.

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Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images