Canada won its second game of the Olympic tournament when it scored five goals against Switzerland on Friday. Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki was held off the scoresheet, but ended up back at center when John Cooper reunited three centers on a single line.
Team Canada took on Switzerland in the second game of the preliminary round of the Olympic tournament on Friday. While Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki started the game on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Brandon Hagel, that’s not where he finished it.
Canada took a 2-0 lead by the halfway point of the first period, with Connor McDavid finding the back of the net on the power play and defenseman Thomas Harley doubling the lead just over five minutes later. The Swiss were still putting on a fight, though, and when Bo Horvat was assessed a minor penalty for high-sticking, they pounced to cut the lead in half, though Pius Sutter. Interestingly, Suzuki was used on that penalty kill, which shows that he does have John Cooper’s confidence. Even though he was on the ice for the goal, after the game the coach called Suzuki a Swiss Army knife and even joked that he’d play goalie if the team needed him to. After 20 minutes, shots were 13-10 Canada, and Logan Thompson, who was in the net with Jordan Binnington having the night off, had to be solid.
With a tiny one-goal lead after the first frame, Cooper decided to mix things up a bit and put MacKinnon, McDavid, and Macklin Celebrini on the same line. As a result, Suzuki was moved back to the center, between Hagel and Tom Wilson. The newly formed top line wasted no time scoring when Celebrini converted on a MacKinnon feed. They were dominant in puck possession and looked like an unstoppable force. When they had the puck, the Swiss looked almost lost, and Canada ended the frame with 14 shots while their opponent only had six.
The Canadians scored another two goals in the final frame; the first one was a great deflection by Sidney Crosby off a Mitch Marner setup, and the second came from Cooper’s super line. This time, it was MacKinnon who scored with assists from McDavid and Celebrini. This line looked like a weapon of mass destruction that the coach was able to use again, and again, and again. It will be interesting to see if he sticks with it going forward, and if he does, how stronger teams will cope with them.
Overall, it was a good game for the Canadians, who pulled off a 5-1 win and are top of their group with 6 points and one game against France remaining in the preliminary round. Suzuki spent 13:35 on the ice, and while he didn’t have as good a game as he did against Czechia, he can still hold his head up high.
As for the Swiss, they lost more than the game since Kevin Fiala sustained a gruesome injury in a collision with Wilson and will be out for the remainder of the tournament. By the looks of the injury, it's quite possible that his NHL season with the Los Angeles Kings is in jeopardy. It's worth mentioning that it wasn't a dirty hit from Wilson; it was just an unfortunate freak play.
Canada will be back in action against France on Sunday morning at 10:40 AM, and it will be interesting to see how Cooper chooses to deploy his men and if Brad Marchand, who was a healthy scratch on Friday, will be back in the lineup.
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