Veteran Sidney Crosby's clutch redirection sparks Canada's dominant 5-1 victory over Switzerland, giving them their second win in preliminary round play.
On Friday, fans watching the 2026 Winter Olympic Games got a small reminder of what Canadian Olympic captain and Pittsburgh Penguins' longtime star Sidney Crosby is still capable of shouldering at 38 years of age.
And the 38-year-old was able to help his team win another hockey game.
Team Canada beat Switzerland, 5-1, in what was a good performance by the team but also a game that was pretty close at times. Crosby scored Canada's fourth goal during the third period of play when he redirected a Mitch Marner shot behind Swiss goaltender Akira Schmid, which - at the time and in the larger scheme of how things were unfolding - ended up being a pretty big goal for the Canadians.
For the second game in a row, Canada opened the scoring when Connor McDavid scored a power play goal a little more than five minutes in to give Team Canada the early lead. Defenseman Thomas Harley scored five minutes later - again, assisted by McDavid - to give Canada a two-goal cushion before Switzerland tied the game on a Pius Suter power play goal a few minutes later.
Less than five minutes into the second period, Team Canada added its third goal when 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini scored his second goal of the tournament to make it 3-1.
After that, and going into the third period, the Swiss were pressuring and creating some legitimate scoring opportunities. And that's where Crosby came up clutch, as he redirected that Marner shot with 12 and a half to go in regulation to put Team Canada ahead, 4-1.
Nathan MacKinnon added a goal with seven minutes left to give Canada the 5-1 win, and a McDavid assist gave him three points on the evening as well as a tournament-leading six points in two games.
Canada's next action willl come on Sunday when they face France at 10:40 a.m. ET for their final preliminary round matchup of the tournament before the qualifying rounds begin Tuesday.
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