By Amy Tennery and Janina Nuno Rios
MILAN, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Canada put on another clinic to beat Switzerland 5-1 on Friday, as Connor McDavid netted his long-sought first Olympic goal in the men’s ice hockey tournament.
McDavid opened the scoring on a power play before recording his first of two assists, setting up Thomas Harley in the first period for a 2-0 lead. The Edmonton Oilers star also assisted on forward Nathan MacKinnon’s third-period tally, while Macklin Celebrini scored in the second and Captain Sidney Crosby added another in the third.
MacKinnon also had two assists at Santagiulia Arena.
Canada will look to notch a third straight win in Milan in their final Group A game against France, while Switzerland, who are 1-1 in the preliminary stage, play Czech Republic on Sunday.
Swiss defenceman Dean Kukan went into the penalty box for tripping early in the first period and McDavid struck 20 seconds later on an assist from MacKinnon, flipping the puck over a Swiss defenceman for his first Olympic goal.
McDavid connected with Harley five minutes later as the Dallas Stars defenceman shot one through the Swiss goalie’s legs.
Kukan trimmed the lead when he slapped the bouncing puck in on a Swiss power play two minutes later, but goalie Logan Thompson kept the Canadian lead intact with a handful of fine stops before the intermission.
Celebrini fired an absolute rocket past the Swiss goalie Akira Schmid off an assist from MacKinnon early in the second period, the second goal of the tournament for the 19-year-old prodigy.
A couple irate fans threw trash on the ice after a controversial no-call on physical forward Sam Bennett, a last-minute addition to the Canadian roster, and the Swiss crowd booed the refs heading into the second intermission.
“Tonight felt more like a road game… there was a ton of energy in the building,” said Crosby. “The fans are great and you can tell they’re passionate.”
Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter nearly trimmed the lead early in the third when his shot ricocheted off the crossbar, and Crosby redirected a pass from Mitch Marner moments later to make it 4-1. MacKinnon added another score off a rebound with seven minutes left.
The game was briefly stopped with less than three minutes left when Swiss alternate captain Kevin Fiala had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher following a hit by Canadian forward Tom Wilson.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Christian Radnedge)
Comments