Canada’s NHLers have arrived in Milan with one mission and one mission only: to win Olympic gold. They got off to a great start with their 5-0 win over Czechia.
 
Connor McDavid collected three points and Sidney Crosby picked up two assists. Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for Canada en route to a shutout.

"It was a good first step for us. We’ll just try to keep getting better,” Team Canada forward Mitch Marner said.

"It's the Olympics. It's a big deal. It's something we've all dreamed of. And definitely, I'm very grateful to be out there playing with these players, just trying to do my job," Nathan MacKinnon added. 

While you can never predict the score in a Czechia–Canada game, one thing is certain: you will be entertained. The teams’ opening game at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games was no exception.
 
While Team Canada was the favourite to win, the crowd was mostly behind the Czech team, as Czechia’s fans greatly outnumbered those cheering for the team in white.

“[Canada] is an unbelievable team and they played well. We tried to do our best, but we didn't use our chances; it’s hard to win if you don’t score goals. Lukas Dostal made a lot of good saves for us," Czechia captain Tomas Cervenka said. 

In the end, the Czechia goalie Dostal stopped the puck 31 times.  
 
The first half of the first period was high-energy hockey, with both teams trying to get control of the game early on, throwing hits when possible, with only one gear: full speed ahead.
 
The game settled down a bit after the first ten minutes, and that’s also when the best chances came, and both Canada’s Binnington and Czechia’s Dostal had to make some spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless.
 
With only fifteen seconds to go in the period, a Czechia defender fell in the corner, and Connor McDavid got an extra second to curl back and find an open teammate. His pass missed Tom Wilson, but behind him, Cale Makar picked it up and fired a wrister from the blue line, and Macklin Celebrini silenced the crowd with his deflection that gave Canada a 1–0 lead with just 5.7 seconds on the clock.

"I think it's just a different kind of atmosphere and energy. It's all pride. You're honored to wear the Canadian sweater and represent all the people back home and all the other athletes that are here. I think every athlete, whether they're in Cortina or here, we're all repping Team Canada and trying to make make the people back home proud," Celebrini said. 

"We had some chances, especially in the beginning. Their first goal at the end of the first period didn’t help us, for sure,” Czechia captain Tomas Cervenka noted. 

David Kampf had Czechia’s best chance, but his shot from the slot couldn’t beat Binnington.

"[Binnington] was awesome, he made some huge saves. I obviously missed my guy back door. He made a huge save there to keep it 0-0. Amazing save," said MacKinnon. 

"Jordan was great, he was massive, he made a lot of great saves throughout the whole game. Obviously the one on Kampf was a big one to keep it at 0-0,” Marner said. 
 
It was a determined Canada that returned for the second period, keeping the puck in the Czechia zone for long periods at a time.
 
Six and a half minutes into the period, Sidney Crosby won a puck battle by the boards and got it to Mitch Marner, who drove to the net and, showing his individual skill, sent a backhand saucer over a Czechia defenseman who was on the ice to Mark Stone, who had an easy job tapping it in for 2–0 at 6:40.
 
In the next shift, Dostál denied McDavid twice to keep the Czechs in the game.
 
With two and a half minutes remaining, Bo Horvat extended Canada’s lead to three when he split the Czech defense and masterfully deked Dostál and slipped the puck through his five-hole. Marchand and Thomas Harley were credited with assists.

Halfway through the third period, Canada’s superstars put on a show on powerplay. Dominik Kubalik only spent 13 seconds in the penalty box as the puck went from Crosby to McDavid to MacKinnon, and into the Czechia net for 4-0.

Six minutes later, McDavid picked up his third point of the night – and Thomas Harley his second – when they set up Nick Suzuki in front of the net, and he made no mistake as he sealed the final score, 5-0. 

"We did our best. I think the first twot periods weren't too bad. But they have a great team. They got the lead, and they just played smart hockey," Kampf said as he thanked the fans for their support. 

"Czech fans are always good. We appreciate the support, and hopefully they will come to our next game, too," he added. 
 
Tomorrow, Canada will take on Switzerland while Czechia will face France.