photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
Canada skated to another impressive win this afternoon in Santagiulia, this a 10-2 victory over France to close out the preliminary round for both teams.
On the surface, there was nothing at stake in the standings as Canada had locked up first place in Group A and France was going to stay in last place regardless of the outcome. However, Canada wanted not just to finish first in the group but first overall, a critical advantage heading towards the re-seeding for the quarter-finals matchups.
To that end, they needed to score as many goals as possible today to boost their goals differential, which would be the first tiebreak with the United States, also first in their group. Canada is now +17 (20-3) while the Americans are +7 (11-4), meaning the U.S. will have to win their game tonigth against Germany by ten goals to finish first overall.
Some 15 players had at least one point. Macklin Celebrini had two goals and an assist while Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Mark Stone all had a goal and two helpers.
France finishes the preliminary round winless in three games and a 5-20 goals difference. They'll play in the Qualifying Round on Tuesday.
"We knew it would be a tough three games for us, and it was," said Sacha Treille. "On the one hand, it was an opportunity for us to grow as a team through this game. Now I think we know what to expect. We have to give our A-game for the next one. It's just one hockey game, so anything can happen."
"You obviously want to come out and win the group and give yourself that extra day off," said Sam Reinhart. "And, more importantly, you want to build your game and be at your best for what matters next game. So I thought we did a good job of that. We had a job to do with our first three games, and we've done that. Now it's shifting focus. It's starting for real."
Canada got just the start they wanted, opening the scoring at 8:41 on a prototypical Tom Wilson shift. First, he muscled a Frenchman off the puck behind the net, and got it back to the point. Drew Doughty’s shot was stopped by Julian Junca, but Wilson was right there to snap in the rebound.
But this did not seem to be the start of some one-sided score. France tied it up just 13 seconds later on a similar play at the other end. Colton Parayko’s clearing pass was picked off and Justion Addamo’s shot was kicked out by Jordan Binnington right to Floran Douay, who knocked in the rebound.
A mere 39 seconds later, though, Canada re-took the lead off an unwise pinch at the Canada blue line. Sidney Crosby got the puck on a three-on-one, looked right and dropped it back to trailer Devon Toews. Toews moved right in and beat Junca to the blocker side.
France earned their first power play near the end of the period, but the chance to tie the game backfired badly. Alexandre Texier was cleverly stripped of the puck at the Canada blue line by Mark Stone. He raced the length of the ice and beat Junca with a clever flick shot past the outstretched glove of the goalie with only 3.4 seconds left on the clock.
It looked for the longest time that the game had settled into a comfortable 3-1 score, even though Canada could have used a few more goals to boost their chances for first place overall. They managed to add one on a power play midway through the period. McDavid got the puck back to Doughty at the point. Doughty took aim and wired a shot over Junca’s glove at 12:10.
Late in the period, however, the Canadians got two more, one a beauty, one a fluke. Macklin Celebrini had a clear breakaway and was hooked from behind by Florian Chakiachvili, resulting in a penalty shot. The 19-year-old, cool as a cucumber, beat Junca with a little move and shot under the blocker arm.
Just 19 seconds later, Crosby got his second of the tournament when his pass to Mitch Marner in front went off the stick of Dylan Fabre and into the corner.
The Canadians struck for two early goals in the third. Celebrini fed McDavid in full flight, and Number 97 had no problem with a deke on Antoine Keller, who had replaced Junca. Just 68 seconds later, however, France replied when Sacha Treille blasted a shot under the arm of Binnington.
"t's a little plus for myself, but hockey is not about myself," Treille explained. "I will definitely trade that goal for a good performance with fewer goals against tonight. But it's still there, and I'll take it and I appreciate it. t's a good memory for my son who is right now [playing] in the peewee tournament in Quebec. So probably he watched that, and it's good for him. I hope he watched that, and he will be able to score more than one goal against Canada."
Bo Horvat got that one back, making it 8-2 at 5:14 when he smacked in a rebound from a bad angle. Brandon Hagel and Celebrini added two late goals to close out the scoring.
"When you go into these tournaments, you expect everyone's best coming in, coming out of the gates in the first period," added Mark Stone. "But we feel like if we're playing 60 minutes, rolling over four lines. We're going to start wearing teams down. I think that's what ended up happening."
On the surface, there was nothing at stake in the standings as Canada had locked up first place in Group A and France was going to stay in last place regardless of the outcome. However, Canada wanted not just to finish first in the group but first overall, a critical advantage heading towards the re-seeding for the quarter-finals matchups.
To that end, they needed to score as many goals as possible today to boost their goals differential, which would be the first tiebreak with the United States, also first in their group. Canada is now +17 (20-3) while the Americans are +7 (11-4), meaning the U.S. will have to win their game tonigth against Germany by ten goals to finish first overall.
Some 15 players had at least one point. Macklin Celebrini had two goals and an assist while Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Mark Stone all had a goal and two helpers.
France finishes the preliminary round winless in three games and a 5-20 goals difference. They'll play in the Qualifying Round on Tuesday.
"We knew it would be a tough three games for us, and it was," said Sacha Treille. "On the one hand, it was an opportunity for us to grow as a team through this game. Now I think we know what to expect. We have to give our A-game for the next one. It's just one hockey game, so anything can happen."
"You obviously want to come out and win the group and give yourself that extra day off," said Sam Reinhart. "And, more importantly, you want to build your game and be at your best for what matters next game. So I thought we did a good job of that. We had a job to do with our first three games, and we've done that. Now it's shifting focus. It's starting for real."
Canada got just the start they wanted, opening the scoring at 8:41 on a prototypical Tom Wilson shift. First, he muscled a Frenchman off the puck behind the net, and got it back to the point. Drew Doughty’s shot was stopped by Julian Junca, but Wilson was right there to snap in the rebound.
But this did not seem to be the start of some one-sided score. France tied it up just 13 seconds later on a similar play at the other end. Colton Parayko’s clearing pass was picked off and Justion Addamo’s shot was kicked out by Jordan Binnington right to Floran Douay, who knocked in the rebound.
A mere 39 seconds later, though, Canada re-took the lead off an unwise pinch at the Canada blue line. Sidney Crosby got the puck on a three-on-one, looked right and dropped it back to trailer Devon Toews. Toews moved right in and beat Junca to the blocker side.
France earned their first power play near the end of the period, but the chance to tie the game backfired badly. Alexandre Texier was cleverly stripped of the puck at the Canada blue line by Mark Stone. He raced the length of the ice and beat Junca with a clever flick shot past the outstretched glove of the goalie with only 3.4 seconds left on the clock.
It looked for the longest time that the game had settled into a comfortable 3-1 score, even though Canada could have used a few more goals to boost their chances for first place overall. They managed to add one on a power play midway through the period. McDavid got the puck back to Doughty at the point. Doughty took aim and wired a shot over Junca’s glove at 12:10.
Late in the period, however, the Canadians got two more, one a beauty, one a fluke. Macklin Celebrini had a clear breakaway and was hooked from behind by Florian Chakiachvili, resulting in a penalty shot. The 19-year-old, cool as a cucumber, beat Junca with a little move and shot under the blocker arm.
Just 19 seconds later, Crosby got his second of the tournament when his pass to Mitch Marner in front went off the stick of Dylan Fabre and into the corner.
The Canadians struck for two early goals in the third. Celebrini fed McDavid in full flight, and Number 97 had no problem with a deke on Antoine Keller, who had replaced Junca. Just 68 seconds later, however, France replied when Sacha Treille blasted a shot under the arm of Binnington.
"t's a little plus for myself, but hockey is not about myself," Treille explained. "I will definitely trade that goal for a good performance with fewer goals against tonight. But it's still there, and I'll take it and I appreciate it. t's a good memory for my son who is right now [playing] in the peewee tournament in Quebec. So probably he watched that, and it's good for him. I hope he watched that, and he will be able to score more than one goal against Canada."
Bo Horvat got that one back, making it 8-2 at 5:14 when he smacked in a rebound from a bad angle. Brandon Hagel and Celebrini added two late goals to close out the scoring.
"When you go into these tournaments, you expect everyone's best coming in, coming out of the gates in the first period," added Mark Stone. "But we feel like if we're playing 60 minutes, rolling over four lines. We're going to start wearing teams down. I think that's what ended up happening."
Canada vs France - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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