Team Canada pulled out a 10-2 win over France on Sunday, and with a healthy plus-17 goal differential, the Canadians are likely to be the top seed heading into the quarterfinals.
Team Canada played its final game of the preliminary round on Sunday against France, and while there was little doubt as to the outcome, the goal difference mattered. Canada needed as good a goal differential as possible to get the top seed heading into the quarterfinals and avoid playing Sweden.
John Cooper’s men had a plus-nine goal differential before the meeting with the French, and after the 10-2 win, they now have a plus-17 goal differential. Meanwhile, Team USA has a plus-seven differential ahead of its last preliminary round game against Germany, meaning that they’d need to win by 10 goals to catch Canada, which seems unlikely against Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle and co.
The Canadians’ evisceration of France was a team affair, with four players getting three points in the walk-in-the-park: Connor McDavid, Macklin Celibrini, Mark Stone, and Sidney Crosby. Those three points allowed McDavid to move past Juraj Slafkovsky in the tournament scoring race. The Edmonton Oilers captain has nine points, while Slafkovsky has six, just like Celebrini and Crosby. As for the Montreal Canadiens’ captain, Nick Suzuki, he was held off the scoresheet, had three shots on net, and spent 13:50 on the ice on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Brandon Hagel.
Cooper didn’t use his not-so-secret weapon, a line formed by Celebrini, McDavid, and MacKinnon, much, only on a few occasions, but to be fair, he didn’t need to. Speaking of the Colorado Avalanche’s center, he took a hit to the head in the third frame, which didn’t look good at all and wasn’t appreciated by Team Canada. Pierre Crinon, who delivered the hit, got a visit from Wilson, and the two dropped the gloves in a rare Olympic hockey fight.
The two pugilists got a two-minute minor for roughing and a five-minute major for fighting. A fight is no longer an automatic one-game suspension in the Olympics, but there could still have been supplementary discipline. Shortly after the game, however, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there wouldn’t be any.
Canada’s biggest concern at this time must be that MacKinnon seemed to be in discomfort at the end of the game, trying to shake something off on his right knee. He has been a major part of the Canadian attack so far, and losing him would be a disaster.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Texier, the only NHLer on Team France, and the other Canadiens player involved in the match, spent 17:45 on the ice, less than forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (19:02) and Stephane da Costa (19:03), but ended the game with a team-worst minus-five rating. That was to be expected against a powerhouse like Canada. The French could only muster 14 shots on goal in 60 minutes, including a single one in the second frame. It’s fair to say that neither of the Canadiens’ players had much of an influence on today’s result.
Once Team USA and Team Germany finish their game, the quarterfinal matchups will be announced, and we’ll know when Canada will next be in action.
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