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Connor McDavid scored his first career Olympic goal on Friday, opening the scoring for Canada on the power play as they went on to earn a 5-1 victory over Switzerland.
The 29-year-old Edmonton Oilers superstar took an excellent cross-ice pass from Nathan MacKinnon before beating Swiss goalie Akira Schmid with a sharp wrist shot at the 5:45 mark. Cale Makar picked up a second assist on the play.
Five minutes later, McDavid found a streaking Thomas Harley, who made no mistake finding the back of the net to give Canada a 2-0 lead.
Switzerland got back into the game with 7:18 remaining in the first period after Logan Thompson failed to catch a one-timer from Sven Andrighetto. Pius Suter banged home the rebound for Canada’s first goal allowed.
In the second period, 19-year-old sophomore star Macklin Celebrini restored Canada’s two goal lead with his second of the tournament, ripping a one-timer to the back of the net off a backhand pass from MacKinnon.
So looks like Team Canada is sticking with this change now:
MacKinnon now third time in rotation with Celebrini and McDavid on top line.
Suzuki now at center between Hagel and Wilson.
Celebrini, who has 81 points in 55 games for the San Jose Sharks this season, scored Canada’s opening goal of Milano Cortina 2026 against Czechia.
Things also got testy in the second when Swiss fans tossed two cups of beer on the ice during a play after a missed penalty call on Canadian forward Sam Bennett.
Swiss fans threw 2 cups on the ice during play after a missed penalty call on Sam Bennett. Yikes.
Captain Sidney Crosby got on the scoreboard in the third period when he tipped a pass from Mitch Marner home to count Canada’s fourth of the game.
MacKinnon pounced on a McDavid rebound for his second of the tournament at the 13:03 mark of the third to make the score 5-1.
McDavid now has five assists for the tournament after picking up three helpers in a 5-0 shutout victory over Czechia in Canada’s Milano Cortina 2026 opener on Thursday.
Fiala taken out on a stretcher after a collision with Wilson. The whole Canadian bench came out to tap their stick as Fiala was taken out in a show of support.
Switzerland forward Kevin Fiala left the game on a stretcher late in the third period after he appeared to suffer a leg injury while getting tangled up with Tom Wilson against the boards.
Thompson replaced Jordan Binnington between the pipes for Friday’s game while defenceman Travis Sanheim and forward Seth Jarvis replaced the injured Josh Morrissey and Brad Marchand (rest) in the lineup.
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