Olympics: Canada Shuts Out Czechia 5-0

 

Team Canada lived up to the hype on Thursday, shutting out Czechia at Santagiulia Arena in their opening game of the Olympics. Connor McDavid picked up three assists, and both Sidney Crosby and Thomas Harley collected two assists apiece, while Jordan Binnington was a brick wall between the pipes, stopping all 26 shots he faced to preserve the clean sheet. For Canada, Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nick Suzuki each found the back of the net for the 5-0 victory. It's an ideal start for the Canadians, who will be meeting with Switzerland on Friday, while Czechia will take on France.

Canada Lineup:

Celebrini - McDavid - Wilson

Hagel - MacKinnon - Suzuki

Marner - Crosby - Stone

Marchand - Horvat - Reinhart

Bennett

Toews - Makar

Morrissey - Parayko

Harley - Doughty

Theodore

Binnington

Thompson

Czechia Lineup:

Pastrnak - Hertl - Necas

Palat - Kampf - Kase

Cervenka - Sedlak - Tomasek

Kubalik - Faksa - Stransky

Flek

Simek - Hronek

Kempny - Gudas

Spacek - Rutta

Kundratek

Dostal

Vladar

Macklin Celebrini broke the ice with just seconds left to play in the first period, putting Canada on the board 1-0. Connor McDavid skated into the zone, forcing Lukáš Dostál to play the puck in the corner, and McDavid got to the puck before sliding a pass that went across the ice to Cale Makar, who fired a one-timer from near the blue line while Celebrini was in front of the net, deflecting it in past Dostal.

Making it 2-0 for Canada, Mitch Marner got the puck from Sidney Crosby after Crosby won a battle along the boards with Jan Rutta, and Marner cut the net to slide the puck through the crease to Mark Stone, getting it past David Spacek's skates and leaping over Spacek while Stone found the back of the net at 13:20. Bo Horvat increased it to 3-0 when he went forehand-backhand, putting the puck through Dostal's pads after he took a slick feed from Brad Marchand at the red line before skating in alone on the Czech goaltender with 2:34 on the clock in the second period.

Nathan MacKinnon put up the fourth Canadian tally to make it 4-0 at 12:18 of the third period, scoring a power-play goal to complete a pretty passing play with McDavid and Crosby. To finish it off for the 5-0 final, Nick Suzuki scored with 4:37 to go. McDavid assisted on Suzuki's goal, which was his third assist of the game.

Notes:

- Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the shutout, becoming the fourth Canadian goalie to record an Olympic shutout with NHL players.

- Lukas Dostal made a total of 31 saves for Czechia.

- Macklin Celebrini (19 years, 244 days) became the seventh teenager to record a point in an Olympic tournament with NHL players. ...Celebrini became the fourth teenager to score in his first Olympic period with NHL players. ...Celebrini became the first teenager to score a game-winning goal in an Olympic tournament with NHL players.

- Celebrini and Cale Makar, both Hobey Baker winners (2024 and 2019), assisted on Canada’s opening goal.

- Connor McDavid picked up his first Olympic point with an assist on Celebrini’s goal. He leads the NHL in scoring at the break with 96 points (34-62--96 in 58 GP). ...McDavid recorded three assists, tying Canada’s single-game Olympic record with NHL players. ...McDavid’s three-point game leaves him one shy of Joe Sakic’s Canadian Olympic single-game record of four.

- Mark Stone made it 2-0 for Canada. Since Jan. 1, 2026, he has led all Olympic participants in NHL scoring (11-18--29 in 19 GP).

- Sidney Crosby reached 10 career Olympic points with NHL players, becoming the seventh Canadian to do so. ...Crosby (38 years, 189 days) became the oldest Canadian to record an Olympic point, passing Ray Bourque.

- Recent NHL scoring leaders at the Olympic break have had mixed results at the Games, with Crosby (2014) and Iginla (2002) winning gold, and Selanne (1998) earning bronze while tying for the scoring lead.

- Bo Horvat made it 3-0 as Canada extended its Olympic goal streak to eight, dating back to 2014.

- Nathan MacKinnon pushed the lead to 4-0. He leads the NHL this season with 40 goals.

- MacKinnon, McDavid, and Crosby connected on a power-play goal, one year after combining on a similar goal at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

- McDavid and MacKinnon teamed up on Canada’s fourth goal, marking the first time the NHL’s top two scorers at the Olympic break combined on an Olympic goal.

- Canada has gone 184:19 of Olympic play with NHL players without allowing a goal, dating back to a 2014 quarterfinal against Latvia before back-to-back shutouts to finish the tournament.

- Canada won its 11th straight Olympic game with NHL players, its last loss coming in the 2010 round robin vs. the U.S.

- Sidney Crosby’s “Golden Goal” in 2010 is one of five Olympic gold medal clinchers scored by NHL players, joining Jonathan Toews (2014), Nicklas Lidstrom (2006), Joe Sakic (2002), and Petr Svoboda (1998).

- Drew Doughty (20 in 2010) was Canada’s youngest Olympic player with NHL participation, but 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini is set to break that mark. Doughty was on the ice for Crosby’s Golden Goal in Celebrini’s hometown when Celebrini was three years old.

- Canada brings back 19 players from its 4 Nations Face-Off roster, including MVP Nathan MacKinnon, OT hero Connor McDavid, goalie Jordan Binnington, and captain Sidney Crosby. The only new additions are Macklin Celebrini, Bo Horvat, Nick Suzuki, Tom Wilson, Darcy Kuemper, and Logan Thompson.

- Eighteen Czech players won gold at the 2024 World Championship on home ice, including seven current NHLers led by David Pastrnak and Martin Necas. The others: Lukas Dostal, Radko Gudas, Ondrej Palat, Karel Vejmelka, and David Kampf.

- Czechia’s last Olympic goal with NHL players came from Ales Hemsky in a 2014 quarterfinal loss to the U.S. Connor McDavid later led Edmonton to its first two Stanley Cup Final appearances since 2006, when Hemsky helped the Oilers reach Game 7.

- Canada’s last Olympic goal with NHL players was Chris Kunitz’s in the 2014 gold medal game vs. Sweden. The goal before that was scored by Sidney Crosby.