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2026 Olympic
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Canada is a perfect 3-0 at the Olympics after routing France 10-2 in its preliminary round finale. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
MILAN — Team Canada knew it had a chance to claim the top seed in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament with a big win Sunday night, and they made sure they did.
But goal differential was not top of mind for Canada when it took on France in the final game of the preliminary round-robin portion of the tournament, even if having the biggest margin of victory possible would accentuate those chances of earning that coveted top seed.
No, Canada wanted to prepare for the knockout phase of this tournament more than anything else.
The massive margin of victory simply came organically in a 10-2 win against France.
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“You can’t really force goals; if you could you would score every shift, if you could just force them in,” Canada forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “We played the right way, and getting an eight (goal) differential is a solid night.”
The round robin was important to Canada to define what exactly playing the right way means to this group, and we saw it against France with puck and risk management in a blowout that made it look like a nail-biter right to the end.
“I think the stakes are higher but I think that’s why you put in so much preparation, that’s why you really work to get your identity as a team so when you get to these big games, you go up there, and the intensity and speed, it’s all there,” Canada captain Sidney Crosby said. “But you understand your game, that remains the same. I think that’s why you put all the work in for these opportunities. We’ve got guys who have been in these situations. They understand what’s at stake. We all need to elevate our game in those situations. I think just understanding our game and what it needs to look like, I think that goes a long way.”
Canada got goals from nine different players, displaying the balance that has been a big part of its identity all tournament.
Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone and Crosby had three points apiece in the victory, which gave Canada a perfect 3-0-0 record in the round robin and a plus-17 goal differential with 20 goals scored and three goals against. The United States would have needed to beat Germany by 10 goals to claim the top seed, but they won 5-1, leaving the U.S. as the second seed, with a likely draw against Sweden awaiting them in the quarterfinals.
Cale Makar, however, said goal differential was not Canada’s priority.
“No, not at all. For us, we’d rather have the confidence and put ourselves in a good spot mentally on how we play rather than just go out there and put up however many goals,” said Makar, who scored his first Olympic goal. “We’ve got to play within our limits here in terms of playing the correct systems and not getting too far away from them. Our next game is obviously going to be a really big one and we’re going to play a great opponent, so we want to make sure we’re sharp and ready to go.”
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In an Olympic rarity, Canada forward Tom Wilson and France defenseman Pierre Crinon drew game misconducts for fighting in the third period. It is expected that neither Wilson nor Crinon will be suspended. Earlier in the third, Crinon was given a minor penalty for interference after he hit Nathan MacKinnon in the head when he did not have the puck. MacKinnon stayed down on the ice for a few moments before making his way back to the bench, but he stayed in the game.
“Obviously Tom is a good teammate and I definitely appreciate him sticking up for me,” MacKinnon said.
Celebrini scored twice for Canada, including a penalty-shot goal, while Wilson, Devon Toews, Mark Stone, Cale Makar, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Bo Horvat and Brandon Hagel also scored.
Celebrini’s penalty shot produced a funny moment on the Canada bench as international rules would have allowed coach Jon Cooper to pick someone else to take the shot even though it was Celebrini’s drive to the net that drew the penalty.
“So (referee) Kyle (Rehman) comes over, he’s like, ‘Hey, you can pick who you want,’’’ Cooper said. “So 18 guys turn around and look at me and said, ‘Oh, what are you going to do now, coach?’ as I see Celebrini doing circles (at centre ice).
“I mean the fans, I would have been booed out of the building if I didn’t let him shoot.’’
Cooper enticed an entire country when he put Nathan MacKinnon with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini late in the first period against Switzerland on Friday. It went counter to Cooper’s stated pre-tournament desire to have balance up front with MacKinnon, McDavid and Crosby on separate lines, attacking teams with pace and skill.
Cooper began the game against France with that same balanced look. McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby all had a shift only 67 seconds into the game. But late in the second period, Cooper went back to McDavid between MacKinnon and Celebrini for a few shifts.
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When he did it on Friday, Celebrini scored on his second shift on that line. When he did it on Sunday, Celebrini drew a penalty shot on that initial shift and scored his third goal of the tournament. According to the NHL, Celebrini became the first Team Canada player to score on a penalty shot at an Olympics with NHL participation.
This option appears to be something Cooper is experimenting with in the event that, later in the tournament, Canada needs a jolt of offense. Cooper began the third period with his original line combinations, with McDavid scoring right off the initial faceoff with assists from his usual linemates, Celebrini and Tom Wilson.
If we had to guess, the nuclear option of MacKinnon, McDavid and Celebrini will be something Cooper keeps in his back pocket to use strategically: offensive-zone faceoffs, late in periods, coming out of TV timeouts.
So far, the switch has twice almost immediately produced a goal. It could come in handy when Team Canada actually needs one.
Josh Morrissey skated Sunday morning, which is a good sign for his potential return in this Olympic tournament. Cooper said after Sunday night’s game that Morrissey will practice with the team Tuesday and then a determination will be made as to his availability for the quarterfinals. But in the interim, Team Canada tried a second different option alongside Morrissey’s regular defense partner, Colton Parayko. It was Thomas Harley’s turn to take most of the shifts on the second pairing, replacing Shea Theodore, who got first crack alongside Parayko in Friday night’s game with Switzerland.
Heading into the Olympics, the Canadian coaching staff had Devon Toews-Cale Makar and Morrissey-Parayko written in stone as the top four, so finding that right fit on the second pairing while Morrissey is out is a legitimate priority.
Whether it’s because the coaching staff didn’t quite like what they saw in the Theodore-Parayko fit or because Harley’s excellent play is pushing him up in the lineup, it meant breaking up the Harley-Drew Doughty pairing, which had been a thing dating back to last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I love playing with him,” Doughty said Friday after the game.
Oh well!
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Doughty was paired up mostly with Travis Sanheim in Sunday’s game, although Theodore was rotated in pretty regularly and played on the second power-play unit as the seventh defenseman.
It will be interesting to see who comes out when Morrissey returns. Sanheim was the healthy scratch in the opener and Theodore, as mentioned, gets second power-play time, so that suggests it’s probably Sanheim who comes out again.
If Morrissey is back in time for Wednesday’s quarterfinals, that’s a major boost. The coaching staff, dating back to the 4 Nations, likes to use the Morrissey-Parayko pairing as an important shutdown matchup duo. Team Canada will feel better having that regular pairing back for the do-or-die games.
Jordan Binnington was back in net on Sunday, which suggests that it’s very likely his net for the rest of the Olympics, although it’s worth pointing out he gave up two goals on just 14 shots against France and neither goal was a particularly good one to give up. He had a fat rebound on the first goal in the first period, and gave up a blast from long distance to Sacha Treille in the third period on a shot that probably shouldn’t have gone in.
“I felt OK,” Binnington said. “It’s a little bit of a different game. Obviously we had a lot of offensive time tonight. I was just trying to stay focused, stay in the game. Obviously I’m not going to complain about it.”
Logan Thompson was very good in his start Friday night against Switzerland, but seemed to indicate in his postgame comments that he thought Binnington was going to be the guy the rest of the way.
Binnington did pitch a shutout in the tournament opener, but the Canadian coaching staff certainly would reserve the right to change their mind if they didn’t like what they saw Sunday.
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As the only NHL player for France, Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier has a heavy burden. He wants to lead his team to victory, but knows how unlikely that is.
He also has the advantage of not being in awe of the NHL stars on Team Canada because he faces them all the time.
Or at least he should.
Texier was talking about how he was enjoying the experience of being an Olympian on Friday after France lost to the Czech Republic, how the athletes’ village has been eye-opening for him, mingling with the world’s best winter athletes.
“There’s a lot of athletes, a lot of sports,” Texier said. “I haven’t had a lot of time to see other competitions, which I’d like to do because that would be fun. Everyone’s together, people are trading pins, everyone’s talking, it’s a totally different vibe from the World Championships. It’s only once every four years, so you want to take it in 100 percent. I’m a competitor, I want to win, but I understand the challenge.”
When asked whether there was a particular interaction with an athlete in the village that struck him, one that was memorable, Texier let out a little grin.
“Crosby,” he said, almost sheepishly.
Texier explained how the French team was walking around in the village earlier in the tournament when Team Canada walked by. They didn’t stop to chat. They didn’t interact in any way.
They were simply breathing the same air.
“He’s a hockey legend. I’m looking forward to playing Canada,” Texier said. “It was pretty impressive for our team. You need to take this in; it might be the first and the last time for our whole team. For the guys who play in France, you realize how big this is; you’re representing your country. So take in the experience and the game we have to win is our fourth game.”
In this game, France was doing more than breathing the same air. They were playing against players who took their breath away in the village.
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