Canada’s men’s hockey squad is off and running at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Connor McDavid had three assists and Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki scored single goals as Canada beat Czechia 5-0 on Thursday. Captain Sidney Crosby added two helpers for the winners, while goalie Jordan Binnington picked up the shutout, making 26 saves.
Lukas Dostal took the loss in goal for Czechia, stopping 32 of 36 shots.
The teams battled through a fairly even first period, with each team managing 11 shots on goal.
THE YOUNGEST ON THE TEAM, CELIBRINI, BURIES THE FIRST GOAL!
Leah Hennel/COC pic.twitter.com/VbHEwrmB1g
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 12, 2026
Canada opened the scoring with 5.7 seconds left in the period when Celebrini, a 19-year-old from North Vancouver in his first Olympics, tipped in a point shot from Cale Makar.
Earlier, it appeared Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon had opened the scoring at 7:44, but his goal was called off after Nick Suzuki was penalized for tripping.
Canada begin to carry the play early in the middle period. Stone made it 2-0 6:40 into the frame, slotting home a nifty backhand pass from Mitch Marner. Moments later, Dostal robbed McDavid on a pair of close-in chances.
Horvat took a nice feed from Brad Marchand to break in on Dostal and made it 3-0 with 2:34 to play in the period, slipping a backhand through the legs of Dostal.
Full speed ahead!
Bo Horvat breaks away and gives Canada a three-goal lead after two periods against Czechia!
#TeamCanada | #MilanoCortina2026 | @CBCOlympics
pic.twitter.com/sTETdCaFpB— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 12, 2026
Shots after 40 minutes favoured Canada 23-22.
McDavid set up MacKinnon at the corner of the net with a perfect saucer pass for a power-play goal at 7:42 of the final period to make it 4-0.
Suzuki upped the lead to 5-0 at 13:22, tipping a pass from McDavid past Dostal.
Canada resumes action Friday against Switzerland (12:10 p.m.).
OLYMPIC NOTES: Crosby becomes the first man to ever captain Canada at two Olympics. He has played 67 games for Canada, accounting for 86 points (37-49—84) across 23 years… Seth Jarvis, Travis Sanheim and goalie Darcy Kuemper were healthy scratches for Canada… After a 5-0 loss to Team USA on Tuesday, the Canadian women’s team got back on track Thursday with a 5-0 win over Finland to wrap up the preliminary round. They meet Germany (7:40 a.m.) on Saturday in quarter-final action… Earlier Thursday, Canada’s Mikaël Kingsbury won silver in men’s moguls, his fourth medal in four Games. Eliot Grondin also won silver in snowboard cross, his third medal in three Games. Canada sits 10th in total medal standings with three silver and three bronze.