Team Canada defeats Czechia to open Olympic men’s hockey tournament
Team Canada has opened the men’s hockey tournament of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games with a win.
19 year old Macklin Celebrini got things going with a late first period goal while Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki also scored in Canada’s 5-0 win over Czechia at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Goaltender Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the shutout.
This was the first Olympic game for all but two players on Canada’s roster as National Hockey League players return to the Games for the first time since Sochi 2014. Canada has won gold in three of the five previous Olympic Games that have featured NHL players.
Captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Drew Doughty helped Canada win gold in Sochi and at Vancouver 2010. The Canadians are looking to get back to the men’s hockey podium for the first time since PyeongChang 2018 when they won bronze – and Thursday’s victory over Czechia is a positive start.
Canada went to an early power play when Lukas Sedlak put a hold on Connor McDavid. The Canadians were able to generate some chances but couldn’t beat Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal.
It looked as though MacKinnon opened the scoring at 7:44 but the goal was called off due to Suzuki getting called for a trip on the play. Binnington had to be sharp on a couple chances. Martin Necas had a good opportunity later on when teams were back at even strength, only for Binnington to poke the puck off his stick.
With 5.7 seconds remaining in the first, Celebrini was parked in front of the net and redirected a Cale Makar point shot past Dostal to give Canada a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
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Canada doubled their lead 6:40 into the second period. Mitch Marner drove to the net and made a perfect backhand pass over a diving Czech defender, allowing Stone, his Vegas Golden Knights teammate, the opportunity to score into a wide open net.
Soon after, Brandon Hagel fed McDavid on a two-on-one but was robbed by the pad of Dostal.
Canada scored another late period goal in the second to grab a 3-0 advantage. With 2:34 remaining, Brad Marchand found Horvat who sped into the offensive zone and beat Dostal with a backhander five-hole to extend the lead.
Canada went to the power play 7:29 into the third when Dominik Kubalik was called for interference. On the man advantage, McDavid found MacKinnon with a cross crease feed, scoring to make it 4-0.
Suzuki made it 5-0 at 13:22 when he tipped a McDavid pass up and over Dostal. MacDavid finished the game with three assists and a team high five shots on goal.
Canada returns to action on Friday, taking on Switzerland at 3:10 p.m. ET. The Swiss also opened the tournament on Thursday, posting a 4-0 victory over France.
France, Switzerland and Czechia are part of Group A with Canada. The Canadians will play their third and final game of the preliminary round on Sunday when they face France at 11:40 a.m. ET.
The men’s hockey tournament began Wednesday and ends Feb. 22, the final day of Milano Cortina 2026. Beyond Canada’s group, Group B features Finland, Sweden, Slovakia and Italy while Group C includes the United States, Germany, Latvia and Denmark.