Has Mitch Marner finally established himself as a clutch player?

One of the biggest goals of the 2026 Winter Olympics thus far has been scored by a player typecast as someone who hides in big moments.

While Canada had to fight back to tie Czechia in its quarterfinal game on Wednesday, many wondered who would step up for the Canadians, especially with captain Sidney Crosby out due to injury. In the extra frame, it was Mitch Marner who played the hero, scoring the game-winner to send Canada to the semifinals.

For years, Marner had been viewed as a player who couldn’t rise to the occasion. Yet, if you include his OT winner against Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, Marner can be relied upon to make great plays in big moments.

During Daily Faceoff’s postgame show on Wednesday, Jeff Marek and Tyler Yaremchuk pondered if Marner is truly a clutch player.

Jeff Marek: That still shot, all of it is going to be splashed all over every hockey website, every newspaper from coast to coast to coast in Canada. How much does this go to erasing that belief about Mitch Marner doesn’t come up big in big games? … He just scored the biggest goal of his life and saved a country in the process.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I thought both Marner and [Mark] Stone had a couple great moments late in that third where they were actually able to penetrate that Czechia neutral zone. I thought Marner, as that game went on, started to get more and more noticeable. I mean, the overtime winner…the fact you can go to a guy like Marner on your second line, but when it’s three-on-three, just has so much that individual skill that’s a luxury that not a lot of teams in this tournament have.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…