The man who scored one of the biggest goals for Canada at these Winter Olympics hardly remembers what happened.
When speaking to the media after practice on Thursday, forward Nick Suzuki was asked about his game-tying goal in Canada’s quarterfinal game against Czechia. Suzuki admitted that he doesn’t remember much until his rather awkward celebration.
“I kind of blacked out,” Suzki said. “All of a sudden, I was going through the door,” Suzuki said, before nearly falling into the television camera person. “The camera guy was there just doing his job and luckily I didn’t fall down.”
“I kind of blacked out” 😅
Look at what almost happened to Nick Suzuki after his game-tying goal against Czechia Wednesday 👀
Suzuki tipped in a Devon Toews point shot with a little over three minutes to play in regulation to tie the game at three, a huge goal for a team that seemed on its way to being shockingly eliminated before reaching the final four. Suzuki went to jump into the boards with glee, but didn’t realize the door had been opened for the on-ice cameraperson to capture the moment. Thankfully, no technology or Montreal Canadiens captains were hurt during the celebration.
Canada went on to win the game in overtime, as Mitch Marner scored a highlight-reel goal to send the gold-medal favorites to the semifinals.
Immediately following the game, Suzuiki noted that his focus on improving his hand-eye coordination in practice prepared him to score such a goal.
“There are a ton of drills we do throughout the season,” Suzuki said. “So, I just tried to get a piece of [the puck].”
Even his teammates recognized the level of skill it took to score a goal of that magnitude, noting the important role Suzuki has taken with a roster filled with stars such as Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
“He makes a great play and gets a huge goal for us,” forward Tom Wilson said. “He’s becoming a leader for this team over here. It was an amazing job by him.”
Suzuki has two goals in four games so far in Milan.
Canada now turns its focus to the semifinals, where the team will take on a strong Finland team with a spot in the gold medal game on the line. Puck drop on Friday is set for 10:40 a.m. ET.
