Olympic Hockey: McDavid Leads the Charge as Canada Blanks Czechia 5-0
If you needed a reminder that Olympic hockey hits differently, Connor McDavid delivered it early. Not with a highlight-reel goal-though that came later-but with a physical tone-setting hit in the offensive corner. That kind of edge from the world’s most electrifying player tells you everything you need to know: the stakes are sky-high, and Canada’s stars are locked in.
Moments after McDavid’s hit, he was dragged down by Czechia, and Canada’s power play-loaded with firepower-took the ice for the first time in the tournament. The unit generated some early looks but couldn’t break through, thanks to a disciplined Czech penalty kill that kept lanes tight and cleared rebounds with purpose.
Canada thought it had struck first when Nathan MacKinnon flew into the zone, took a slick feed from Nick Suzuki, and buried the puck. But Suzuki’s stick clipped the skates of a Czech defender just before the pass, drawing a tripping penalty and wiping the goal off the board. That gave Czechia its first power play, but Canada’s penalty killers returned the favor with a composed kill that allowed Suzuki to return to the ice without damage on the scoreboard.
What followed was a stretch of high-tempo, five-on-five hockey-both teams trading chances, both goaltenders standing tall. But with just six seconds left in the opening frame, Canada finally broke through.
Cale Makar fired a point shot, and 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini-parked right where the coaches love to see him-got a stick on it just under the crossbar. It was the kind of gritty, net-front goal that doesn’t just count on the scoreboard-it sends a message.
Canada led 1-0 heading into intermission, thanks to a textbook deflection and some hard-earned offensive zone presence.
The Czechs came out for the second period with a renewed push, controlling the puck and dictating pace early. But as often happens against this Canadian roster, one breakdown proved costly.
At 6:40, Mitch Marner gathered the puck off the boards, pulled defenders toward him with a drive to the net, and then dished a no-look pass to Mark Stone, who buried it from the side of the crease. Just like that, it was 2-0 Canada-clinical execution from two players who know each other well from their NHL days.
McDavid nearly made it 3-0 on a two-on-one with Brandon Hagel, but Czech netminder Lukas Dostal came up with two stellar saves at the post, keeping his team within striking distance.
Still, Canada’s depth kept coming. Brad Marchand found Bo Horvat streaking through the middle, and Horvat finished with a quick backhand deke through Dostal’s five-hole-a pure power-forward goal that stretched the lead to 3-0. It was a tough pill for Czechia, who had arguably been the better team for stretches of the period but couldn’t find a way past Jordan Binnington.
The third period opened with Czechia still pushing, but the wind began to come out of their sails. When McDavid was interfered with en route to the net, Canada went back to the power play-and this time, they wasted no time.
Just 13 seconds in, McDavid feathered a no-look saucer pass across the crease to MacKinnon, who tapped it in for his first official goal of the tournament. That made it 4-0 and all but sealed the result.
From there, Canada started to pile on the pressure. The Czechs, who had gone toe-to-toe for two periods, began to fade.
After a flurry of chances, McDavid once again found himself in the middle of the action, sending a puck toward the net that deflected off Suzuki’s stick and up over Dostal’s pad. That made it 5-0-Canada’s stars continuing to produce with chemistry and confidence.
Czechia couldn’t solve Binnington late, and the Canadian goaltender walked away with the shutout-an exclamation point on a strong team performance.
On paper, it’s a 5-0 blowout. But this was no walk in the park.
Czechia brought energy, structure, and stretches of sustained pressure. They just ran into a Canadian team whose top-end talent and depth proved too much to handle over 60 minutes.
Both teams are back at it Friday. Canada will face a tough Swiss squad, while Czechia looks to bounce back against France in what could be their most favorable matchup of the group stage.