Canada enters the semifinals as the top seed with a perfect 3-0 record and a plus-17 goal differential in round-robin play.
However, the team's vulnerability was exposed in their quarterfinal against Czechia after Crosby's injury forced coach Jon Cooper to move MacKinnon up to the top line with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. Without Crosby, Canada suddenly resembled a one-line team, making MacKinnon's role even more critical for their gold medal hopes.