By Amy Tennery and Janina Nuno Rios
MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Tournament favourites Canada marked their territory with a 5-0 win over Czech Republic to open their men’s Olympic ice hockey campaign on Thursday, as goalie Jordan Binnington turned away all 26 shots he faced in a dominant display.
Canada’s 19-year-old prodigy Macklin Celebrini scored with 5.7 seconds left in the first period, while forwards Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki added goals, and Connor McDavid notched three assists in the group stage opener.
“There’s nobody in that room that’s entitled,” said Canada coach Jon Cooper of his team of National Hockey League stars.
“That’s what’s great about this group. Hey, listen, it’s just one game. But the way we’ve started and the way today’s gone, (I’m) pretty proud and confident.”
The NHL’s return to the Olympic stage has offered a lethal advantage to the country that regards ice hockey as a national religion, and fans piled into Santagiulia Arena to take in the Canadian master class.
The Colorado Avalanche centre MacKinnon appeared to have broken the impasse for Canada with a quick snapshot eight minutes in, but the goal was waived off as Suzuki was called for a tripping penalty.
Binnington stretched across the ice to save a prime chance from Czech forward David Kampf late in the first period and Canada got on the board when defenceman Cale Makar fired the puck toward the net and Celebrini tipped it in.
Forward Mitch Marner conjured a bit of magic in the crease in the second period, as he flipped the puck over a prone Czech defenceman David Spacek and connected with his Vegas Golden Knights team mate Stone, who sent it into the net.
New York Islanders centre Horvat beat the Czech goalie to add another score with less than three minutes to go before the second intermission.
MacKinnon tapped in the fourth goal off assists from NHL points leader McDavid and captain and former Olympic hero Sidney Crosby, in a boastful display of Canada’s brightest stars. Suzuki tapped in the fifth goal off another McDavid assist.
Their arch-rivals United States were set to play later on Thursday against Latvia. The United States have not won since 1980 but are widely considered the likeliest to challenge Canada for the top of the podium this time around.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in MilanEditing by Bill Berkrot)
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