By Amy Tennery and Trevor Stynes
MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Canada got the perfect start to their Olympic men’s ice hockey campaign with a confident 5-0 win over the Czech Republic on Thursday, the United States saw off Latvia 5-1, as Germany beat Denmark 3-1 and Switzerland cruised past France 4-0.
The nine-time winners underlined their claim as favourites at the Milan Cortina Games with a group effort that saw 19-year-old prodigy Macklin Celebrini start the scoring on the second day of the men’s tournament at Santagiulia Arena.
Goalie Jordan Binnington turned away 26 shots in the shutout, as Mark Stone scored off an assist from his Vegas Golden Knights teammate Mitch Marner and New York Islander Bo Horvat beat the Czech goalie in the second period.
The National Hockey League’s goal-scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon and forward Nick Suzuki piled on in the third.
These Games mark the return of the world’s best players from the NHL for the first time in 12 years, making it one of the prime high-profile events in Milan.
Canada next play Switzerland, while the Czech Republic play France in the Group A action on Friday.
US OVERCOME LATVIAN CHALLENGE
The U.S. shook off the early jitters to down Latvia 5-1 in their Group C opener, where forward Brock Nelson scored twice and the Tkachuk brothers connected on a goal in the first period, while captain Auston Matthews and forward Tage Thompson added scores.
The Americans had two goals called off in a chaotic first period, where Matthew Tkachuk assisted his younger brother, Brady, on the opening score and Latvian forward Renars Krastenbergs levelled it in the eighth minute.
Nelson put the United States back in front midway through the second period and scored another after Thompson’s backhand trickery in the crease. A stone-faced Matthews shot one in from the slot in the third period to put the contest completely out of reach.
DRAISAITL DAZZLING START
In the other Group C game, German captain Leon Draisaitl took all of 23 seconds to find the net, nonchalantly prodding home from Frederik Tiffels’ pass.
Denmark were outshooting their opponents and Phillip Bruggisser hit the post with a strike from just inside the blue line before Oscar Moelgaard levelled, sliding the puck under the goaltender’s leg with seven minutes left in the first period.
Germany went back in front early in the second period, John Peterka pulling a pass back to Tim Stutzle who smashed a one-timer. Stutzle then netted a power-play goal to give his side some breathing space.
Germany play Latvia on Saturday, with the U.S. taking on Denmark.
SWISS MAKE STRONG START
Forward Damien Riat and defenceman J.J. Moser scored early in the first period of Switzerland’s romp over France in Group A, while New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier put the puck in twice in the third in front of a heavily Swiss crowd.
Riat tapped one in on the power play 55 seconds into the contest, sending the flag-waving Swiss fans into rapturous cheers. Moser beat two French defenders before sending a wrist shot into the net a little more than two minutes later.
Swiss winger Sven Andrighetto’s attempt early in the second period ricocheted off the crossbar and French goaltender Antoine Keller made a superb effort with 14 stops to keep the score 2-0 heading into the second intermission.
Swiss captain Roman Josi wrapped around the net and put the puck into perfect position for Meier, who flipped it in easily midway through the third.
Meier shot the puck through Keller’s pads from a sharp angle to score again about six minutes later.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Trevor Stynes in MilanEditing by Toby Davis and Bill Berkrot)
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