By Amy Tennery
MILAN, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Canada chased top seeding from the Olympic ice hockey preliminary stage with a 10-2 rout of France to close out the first stage of the men’s tournament in Group A on Sunday.
The pre-tournament favourites had already won the section to reach the quarter-finals but the margin of their win over France could make them top seeds on goal difference, with the U.S. also hunting a third win when they play Germany in Group C later on Sunday.
Young star Macklin Celebrini scored twice while Tom Wilson, Devon Toews and Mark Stone scored in the first period and Cale Makar and captain Sidney Crosby scored in the second.
Connor McDavid, Bo Horvat and Brandon Hagel added scores in the third.
“Talking to the team – it had nothing to do with where are we going to finish, what we’re going to do, how many goals are we going to score – it was about are we getting better as a team,” said coach Jon Cooper. “Trying to avoid the qualification game, we did that. Now let’s just see the chips, where they fall.”
France put up a decent fight at first, as forward Floran Douay flipped one into the net just 13 seconds after Wilson opened the scoring. But they completely lost control of the contest from there as defenceman Toews retaliated for Canada just 39 seconds later.
Forward Stone robbed Alexandre Texier of the puck for a shorthanded goal with less than four seconds left in the period to make it 3-1 and alternate captain Makar whipped the puck in from the blue line on a power play midway through the second.
The 19-year-old Celebrini showed another tool in his arsenal when he buried a penalty shot and the Canadian steamroll continued as a touch from Crosby slid across the line 19 seconds later, before the third-period glut of goals.
The Olympic tournament, featuring NHL players for the first time since 2014, has seen its share of skirmishes but Sunday’s affair got its first outright fight despite a strict ban on fisticuffs at the Games.
Canadian Tom Wilson and Frenchman Pierre Crinon earned a game misconduct when they came to blows late in the third period, in a conflict that saw a referee dragged down.
France, who were without a win through three preliminary matches, will compete in Tuesday’s qualification playoff.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery, Janina Nuno Rios and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; Editing by Ken Ferris and Clare Fallon)
