Canada opened their Olympic tournament with a resounding win over Czechia. 

This game opened exactly how you’d like to see the first game of a big tournament start, with some physical engagement. It began in warmup with Tom Wilson’s antics patrolling the center-ice line, and then it carried over to start the game. Two of Canada’s best players, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, set the tone with two big hits — first, a MacKinnon reverse hit on Michael Kempny, and then McDavid absolutely lined up and destroyed Lukas Sedlak. 

Roughly eight minutes into the period, it appeared Canada opened the scoring. MacKinnon walked right in on a drop pass by Nick Suzuki and rifled one in the top corner, but as MacKinnon was shooting, Suzuki’s stick got caught in the defender’s feet, accidentally tripping the Czech player. I don’t think it impacted the goal sequence, but it was a penalty. Canada killed it off pretty easily, but the Czechs did have opportunities in the first; they came out with the type of energy you’d expect of anybody in their first Olympic games. 

If you’re Czechia, you were feeling really good about the first period… until the final 10 seconds. With the clock set to expire, McDavid tried to find Wilson with a seam pass in the slot. The pass was off and made its way to Makar on the point, where Makar threw it to the net, given the clock. Celebrini batted it down out of the air to open the scoring with five seconds left in the period. I’m not sure Makar throws it to the net so wildly if the period wasn’t about to end, but throwing pucks on net with traffic is always a good idea, and it worked out.

In the second period, Canada blew the game wide open. 

With the long change in effect, Czechia couldn’t keep up with Canada’s transitions and puck possession. Canada scored in transition just over six and a half minutes into the period when Crosby found Marner in some space behind the defense on a zone entry. Marner completed a beautiful saucer pass to Stone for an empty net tap-in.  

Canada kept pushing and creating, but it took another 11 minutes until they notched their next goal. It again came in transition, as Brad Marchand found a streaking Bo Horvat right through the middle of the ice in the neutral zone, where he took the pass in stride with speed, catching Czechia flat-footed. It created a quick breakaway for Horvat in which he made a nice move to his backhand to put it home. 

At 3-0, the game was effectively over. Canada took control in the middle frame, and their three-goal lead already felt insurmountable for what is essentially a one-line Czech team (at least against Canada). The only point of interest remaining was how Canada would approach the third when defending a lead. 

Well, Canada added two goals. The first came courtesy of a power play that was the result of a good offensive-zone shift in the first place. The power play goal itself was as easy as it gets, as Crosby bumped it to McDavid down at the goal line, where Czechia left McDavid all alone (Radko Gudas should have asked for his autograph). With ample time and space, McDavid patiently saucered a pass over to MacKinnon for an empty net tap-in.

Later in the period, McDavid found Suzuki in front of the Czechia net. While Suzuki clearly wanted to cradle the pass and pull it to his forehand to go far post, it accidentally deflected off his stick and into the net short side. 

A fairly definitive Canada win across the board. 

Post-Game Notes

– Three of Canada’s four lines scored in this game, and the one line that didn’t — the Nathan MacKinnon line — scored a disallowed goal, and MacKinnon buried on a power play. Another member of the line, Nick Suzuki, scored at five-on-five on a line change. I’m not sure Canada could ask for much more than this for an opening game. Everyone was involved. Everyone contributed.

– Perhaps most importantly, Jordan Binnington was excellent in this game. While Canada took the game over as it went along, it wasn’t that way the whole way through. He made several good saves — along with some nervy moments on a few routine shots — and ultimately notched a shutout. If he plays like this all tournament, Canada will be in great shape. Any thought that Binnington would relinquish the net is probably void now after this performance, so in Binnington we trust. 

– The only potentially disappointing news for Canada: Josh Morrissey left the game with an injury. Travis Sanheim was a healthy scratch in this game, and truthfully, I’m not sure switching those two out makes Canada any worse. If anything, I like Sanheim’s length. Notably, Morrissey did not play in the 4 Nations final — he was sick — and we know how that game ended. 

 – This officiating is much better than the usual nonsense Olympic standards, so far. The game was physical, but it wasn’t filled with ticky-tack calls. It’s a major emphasis, and I think the 4 Nations tournament opened some eyes in terms of letting the boys play. It makes players like Tom Wilson and Sam Bennett all the more important. As the competition stiffens, we can already see the ice shrinking and teams packing the house. It underscores the need for some space creators and heavy forecheckers. Zach Hyman would have made a lot of sense in this regard over Seth Jarvis, but alas…

– It’s wild to witness how far the Czechs have fallen. David Kampf was their 2C in this game, with Ondrej Kase on his wing. David Pastrnak would obviously make Team Canada, and Martin Necas would, too. After that, maybe Filip Hronek — because he’s a right-shot — but even still, he’d be in tough to make it, at best. That’s the full list, not including the goalies. I thought Czechia might be Canada’s toughest test in the round robin, but the Switzerland lineup is looking a little more formidable, to my eye. I guess we’ll see about that tomorrow.

Game Highlights: Team Canada 5 vs. Team Czechia 0

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR