Pastrnak: Czechia needs 'perfect game' to beat Canada

David Pastrnak knows it'll take a near-flawless performance from Czechia to upset powerhouse Canada in the men's Olympic hockey tournament on Thursday.

"It will take a perfect game for us," Pastrnak told TSN's Mark Masters on Wednesday ahead of the opener for both teams.

Canada is the gold-medal favorite and has won four straight best-on-best international hockey tournaments.

"Obviously insane power and strength over there, a lot of world's best players over there," Pastrnak added, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "At the end of the day, we're going to have to focus on us."

Czechia shouldn't be considered a walk in the park, though. The team won the 2024 World Championship and is a popular pick to take home a medal in Milan.

One area where Czechia could have an advantage is between the pipes. While starting goalies have yet to be confirmed, projected starter Lukas Dostal has superior numbers over his expected counterpart, Jordan Binnington, in the NHL this season.

"They have a really good team," Dostal said, "but so do we."

The puck drops at 10:40 a.m. ET on Thursday.