Canada’s skill overwhelmed France in a 10–2 victory Sunday at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina, capping a perfect preliminary round. Canada (3-0-0-0) secured the No. 1 seed after USA defeated Germany 5–1.
“Tonight was not about where we were going to finish [in the standings] or how many goals we were going to score, it was about making sure we are getting better as a team,” said Jon Cooper. “We wanted to focus on how we were playing without the puck, because if you want to win this tournament, you better not give up more than one or two goals a game. If you give up anything more than that, the game is in jeopardy, so that was a big focus tonight.”
Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Mark Stone each recorded a goal and two assists. Cale Makar and Tom Wilson added a goal and an assist each, while Jonathan Toews and Bo Horvat also found the back of the net.
Late in the second period, Macklin Celebrini became the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot in an Olympic competition, adding another highlight to a breakout performance. The San Jose Sharks center finished with two goals and an assist.
With 8:38 remaining, Nathan MacKinnon took a high hit from France’s Pierre Crinon. Less than two minutes later, Wilson dropped the gloves, earning a fighting major.
Lightning forward Brandon Hagel scored his first goal of the Olympic games in the third period, shooting a one-timer off a feed from MacKinnon to make it 9–2. Celebrini capped the scoring just over a minute later. Canada outshot France 46-14.
“We have done a pretty good job so far, and we wanted to avoid playing in a qualification game,” said Cooper. “We accomplished that, and now we will see where the chips fall and go play in a win-or-go-home situation.”