Huge officiating scandal almost ended Canada’s Olympic run!

What could have been the biggest scandal of the Olympics was narrowly erased by resilience, and pretty much, overtime heroics.

According to TVA Sports insider Renaud Lavoie, Czechia had six players on the ice for an extended moment during their third goal of the game, an infraction that should have resulted in a penalty for too many men and the goal being waved off. Instead, play continued.

Moments later, Ondrej Palat buried the go-ahead goal, stunning Canada with less than eight minutes remaining.

The play has since been pointed out by many insiders and pundits.

The sequence unfolded right after Jordan Binnington made a massive save on Radko Gudas. The puck stayed alive, chaos followed, and Palat capitalized. That’s when the alleged missed call occurred. No whistle. No review. Goal stands.

For a brief moment, it felt like Canada’s Olympic run was slipping away under a cloud of controversy.

Tension surged across the country, but so did Nick Suzuki. With 3:27 left in regulation, Suzuki tipped a Devon Toews point shot past the Czech goaltender to tie the game and force overtime, with everything on the line.

And once again, Mitch Marner delivered in the clutch.

Instead of debating a historic officiating blunder, Canada is heading to the semifinals. But if Suzuki hadn’t found that equalizer, this missed call might have defined the tournament and ignited outrage for years to come.

Still after the game, head coach Radim Rulík was very, very unhappy with the referees, saying this:

“The referees really worry me. What they’re allowing against us is unacceptable. After every game, we send them two or three clips where they confirm that the opponent should have been penalized. I don’t understand it. I just don’t get it. I feel like everyone is afraid to call anything against Canada. We were basically playing against six players. I don’t want to make excuses, and no one has to agree with me, but the video backs me up. In this respect, it’s not a fair tournament. It was happening to us even against Denmark. The mix of NHL and European referees hasn’t worked - everyone calls the game differently. I watch two NHL games on replay every single day. The play Nečas made today - when his stick was touched on the breakaway - is always a penalty in the NHL. But suddenly, not here. I’m really sorry about it. The guys deserved a top-level performance from the referees. They always admit afterward that we were right, but nothing ever changes. We should have had power plays against Canada. But they were afraid Pasta or Nečas would score another power-play goal. And if Gudas was penalized, then Doughty should have been too for the hit on Pasta.”

But I say that if he wants to play the whatabout game, Czechia's 3-2 goal would be an obvious place to start with...