Saturday, Team Czech Republic captain Tomas Plekanec did that during the World Cup of Hockey 2016 pretournament game against Team Russia at O2 Arena. He may have delivered an even louder one after a 2-1 shootout victory by his team.

PRAGUE-- Part of the duties of a captain is to send messages to his teammates.

Plekanec scored with 1:11 remaining in regulation, deflecting a shot by Michal Frolik over the shoulder of Team Russia goalie Semyon Varlamov.

"He's our captain, our leader," Team Czech forward Milan Michalek said. "That's what he does. It's huge for us."

As dramatic as it was, that goal only tied the game. Team Czech Republic had to survive overtime before winning the shootout on goals by Jakub Voracek and Ales Hemsky and two saves from goaltender Michael Neuvirth.

Video: RUS@CZE: Plekanec uses stick to score game-tying goal

The win against a powerful Team Russia was a feel-good moment, and the O2 Arena crowd celebrated when the players skated on the ice to celebrate after Nikita Kucherov hit the post on his attempt to end the game.

It also put to rest some concerns caused by a 4-3 loss to the Team Russia two days earlier. In that game, Team Czech Republic looked lost in its own zone. Its goalie, Petr Mrazek, played a strong game but allowed four goals and Team Russia had Grade-A opportunity after Grade-A opportunity, especially in the first two periods of the game.

Team Czech Republic spent the day between games talking about how they needed to be better in their defensive-zone coverage before going out and doing that on Saturday.

"From the first practice we have said we have to play five guys together in the 'D' zone," Hemsky said. "We work every day on it. That will be the most important thing for us, don't give up the A scoring chances and take away the middle. Hopefully, we can build from that and get ready for the next game."

Before Team Czech could get too high, Plekanec made sure his post-game message was delivered.

It was a mixture of praise for his team, followed by a challenge to his teammates to be even better.

"More than the win, it's the effort, it's the character of the team and that is what we needed," Plekanec said. "We stuck together. We played for each other. That's the only chance we have to play [well]."

A minute later, he was asked about the chances for Team Czech Republic in the World Cup group stage. Team Czech Republic is in Group A with Team Canada, the tournament favorite, Team USA and Team Europe. The top two teams in the group advance to the semifinal.

The tournament starts Sept. 17 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

"We still have one pretournament game," Hemsky said, referencing a game against Team North America at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday (3:30 p.m., ET; ESPN3, SN, SN1, TVA Sports). "We want to focus on ourselves and see where we are. Obviously, nobody really believes in us, but we have to do what we believe in. The team system, the team character, that's the only way we have a chance to play."

Plekanec believes in this team. He has been the captain long enough to understand that if this team plays to its potential it can beat any other team in the tournament on any given day. In a short tournament like the World Cup with a one-game semifinal format, there are likely to be some surprise teams along the way.

Video: RUS@CZE: Plekanec dances around defense, takes a shot

Clearly, the message was delivered when Plekanec's teammates celebrated a victory that bolstered their confidence.

"It was a great team effort," Michalek said. "We have to stick together as a team if we want to do something in the tournament. We don't have superstars like other teams in the tournament have. We stuck together and played for the whole 65 minutes. It was great for us and great for our confidence too."

Message sent, message delivered. A captain's job done for now with the tournament beginning a week from Saturday. The other Team Czech Republic players expected nothing less, on or off the ice.

"He's been our captain for a long time, a great two-way player, a great leader and an important guy for this team," Hemsky said.