Daniel Chavkin
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Canada’s NHL players returned to the Olympic stage like they never left, dominating Czechia 5-0 in their opening game.
Canada and Czechia got off to a fairly even start, as the first period was largely played to a draw. However, San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini scored with just five seconds left in the period, opening the floodgates for Canada.
Canada scored two goals in each of the next two periods, with five different players finding the back of the net. Nathan MacKinnon, Nick Suzuki, Mark Stone and Bo Horvat all scored in the opener, joining Celebrini.
Meanwhile, Jordan Binnington was rock solid in net, recording a shutout to begin the tournament. The St. Louis Blues goalie stopped all 26 shots he faced against a Czechia team featuring several high-quality NHL forwards.
Both sides now face a quick turnaround before returning to action tomorrow. Czechia will look to bounce back against France, while Canada aims to keep rolling against Switzerland in preliminary round Game 2.
The Sporting News tracked live scores, updates and highlights from the 2026 Olympic men’s hockey game between Canada and Czechia. Here’s what happened.
MORE 2026 OLYMPICS: Live medal tracker | Viewer's guide | Day-by-day schedule
1:03 p.m.: Canada wins 5-0 in its first of three preliminary round games.
12:59 p.m.: Canada is gonna play out the string here to complete its first victory of the Olympics.
12:52 p.m.: GOAL! Nick Suzuki scores to make it 5-0. Five different players have now scored for the Canadians.
12:46 p.m.: Canada is keeping control of the puck as they protect a four-goal lead.
12:42 p.m.: GOAL! MacKinnon finishes a pass from McDavid, putting Canada up four.
12:39 p.m.: Kubalik is called for a penalty, sending Canada back to the power play.
12:36 p.m.: Some back-and-forth action to start the period, but there hasn’t been an huge chance yet.
12:30 p.m.: The puck is dropped for the third period, with Canada up three goals
12:12 p.m.: Josh Morrissey will miss the rest of the game with an injury.
Josh Morrissey will not return…hopefully not serious.
Now that Canada has played, no injury replacement can be added to the roster
12:12 p.m.: The period ends with another Canada push that Czechia withstands.
12:08 p.m.: GOAL! Bo Horvat beats Dostal on a breakaway to extend the lead to three.
12:03 p.m.: The action has slowed down a bit as there hasn’t been many prime chances in the past few minutes.
11:54 a.m.: Canada has turned it up a gear after that last goal, and is now pressuring Czechia more than previously.
11:49 a.m.: Connor McDavid gets a chance on a 2-on-1, but Dostal makes an impressive save.
11:44 a.m.: GOAL! Mark Stone buries one from his Vegas teammate Mitch Marner to increase the lead.
11:40 a.m.: Czechia has come out strong in the second with a few quality chances, but nothing to show for it.
11:35 a.m.: We are back for the second period with Canada up 1-0.
11:16 a.m.: GOAL! Macklin Celebrini deflects a Cale Makar shot into the net with just five seconds left in the period for the first goal of the game.
MACKLIN CELEBRINI OPENS THE SCORING FOR CANADA 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/XMehlwNDda
11:06 a.m.: A couple good chances for Bo Horvat and Brad Marchand, but neither are able to finish. On the other end, Martin Necas gets a great look but Jordan Binnington makes the save.
10:59 a.m.: Canada kills the penalty as Czechia can’t take advantage, keeping the game scoreless.
10:56 a.m.: A Canada goal is wiped off as Nick Suzuki is called for tripping right before the puck went in. Czechia heads to the power play instead.
10:52 a.m.: Canada leads the shots 6-2 early, but neither side has buried one as we hit a break,
10:48 a.m.: Lukas Dostal keeps Canada off the board with a few big saves as the power play expires.
10:43 a.m.: Czechia is called for an early penalty, sending Canada to the power play just a few minutes in.
10:40 a.m.: Here we go from Italy, as Canada controls play early after the puck drop.
10:34 a.m.: We are about to get underway from Italy as Canada will begin its quest to Olympic gold.
10:06 a.m.: Czechia will likely trust it’s first line of David Pastrnak-Tomas Hertl-Martin Necas a lot in this game. Lukas Dostal will also start in net for the Czechs.
Czechia’s lines vs. Canada:
Pastrnak – Hertl – Necas
Palat – Kampf – Kase
Cervenka – Sedlak – Tomasek
Kubalik – Faksa – Stransky
Flek
Simek – Hronek
Kempny – Gudas
Spacek – Rutta
Kundratek
9:55 a.m.: It looks like Connor McDavid will play with Macklin Celebrini and Tom Wilson in the first game. Here’s a look at the full Canada lines.
Canada’s lines today against Czechia 🇨🇦🇨🇿
Celebrini-McDavid-Wilson
Hagel-MacKinnon-Suzuki
Marner-Crosby-Stone
Marchand-Horvat-Reinhart
Bennett
Toews-Makar
Morrissey-Parayko
Harley-Doughty
Theodore
Binnington
Thompson
9:37 a.m.: Here’s the full list of scratches for this morning’s game, as Jarvis and Sanheim will sit out today.
As expected, Seth Jarvis and Travis Sanheim will sit for Canada. Darcy Kuemper will sit as Canada’s third goalie.
Filip Chlapik and Jiri Tichacek will sit for Czechia, with Karel Vejmelka as the third goalie. #Olympics
9:10 a.m.: It appears Canada will start Jordan Binnington in net while Seth Jarvis, Travis Sanheim and Darcy Kuemper are all scratched, but the full lines will come out soon.
Canada/Czechia is two hours away
Darcy Kuemper, Travis Sanheim & Seth Jarvis skated this morning…indicating they will not dress this afternoon.
We are expecting Jordan Binnington in goal, but will see for sure
Canada will open its 2026 Olympics against Czechia on February 12 at 10:40 a.m. ET from the Milano Santagiulia IHO arena.
The Canada vs. Czechia preliminary round matchup will be broadcasted on CBC in Canada and USA in the United States. The game will also be live streamed on CBC Gem in Canada and Peacock in the United States.
Daniel Chavkin is a Digital Content Producer for The Sporting News. A 2018 graduate from the University of Maryland, he has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and NFLTradeRumors.com.