MILAN — Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and the Canada Olympics are entering the knockout rounds as the best team in the tournament.
They may have put the top seed out of reach for the Americans.
Crosby and McDavid each scored a goal and had two assists in Sunday’s 10-2 defeat of France.
“We did what we came to do,” said McDavid, who led all scorers in Milan. “We came to win hockey games and keep getting better.”
In this attack, Tom Wilson was fighting the player who hit Nathan MacKinnon with a left hand in the face.
McKinnon came back and Wilson was ejected, as fighting is a sporting misconduct under international rules.
Forward Sam Bennett said of Wilson, “He’ll stick up for his guys.” “He’s the leader of this team and he’s a guy that will protect our guys and do whatever it takes for our team.”
Canada finished round-robin play unbeaten, defeating opponents by 17 goals in three games.
The U.S. must beat Germany by 10 or more goals on Sunday night to overtake Canada for the No. 1 seed. Any win less than that would send the U.S. to second place and on a crash course to face seventh-seeded Sweden in the quarterfinals, and an unexpected regulation loss would shake up the already surprising standings.
Sweden is a much stronger opponent, although Canada showed in the preliminary round that it has the skill, size and finishing ability to blow any other team out of the building in Milan. McDavid has nine points in his first nine periods to lead all scorers in his first Olympics, and Crosby has been stellar at 38, and is 3-3 hoping to win a gold medal.
“Sid is playing great,” McDavid said. “Everyone is playing really well. The team is playing well. We’re in a good place right now.”
Canada’s youngest player, 19-year-old Maclin Celebrini, scored on a penalty shot and power play against France to give them four goals in three games.
Wilson, chosen by coach John Cooper to play shotgun on the top line on McDavid’s right wing, also had a goal with some big hits.
Mark Stone scored short-handed with 3.4 seconds remaining in the first period and had two assists. Brandon Hagel scored Canada’s ninth goal in the third before Celebrini added his 10th goal.
Canada defeated France 46-13, making life as easy as possible for goaltender Jordan Binnington, who will probably want another goal back but will likely be in net against the Czech Republic or Germany in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Denmark 4, Latvia 2: Longtime NHL goaltender Frederik Andersen made 33 saves on 35 shots to give Denmark its first win in Milan.
The two-game empty-netter win also moved Denmark ahead of the seedings, leaving Latvia in 10th place to face No. 7 Sweden in the qualification round on Tuesday.
Switzerland 4, Czechia 3 (OT): Switzerland beat Czechia in overtime to ease their way into the quarterfinals in the absence of injured winger Kevin Fiala.
Victory in the preliminary round final means captain Roman Josi’s team will surely face either France or victorious hosts Italy in the qualification playoff on Tuesday.
“We knew it was a big play,” said Nashville Predators defenseman Josi, who scored Switzerland’s first goal by putting the puck back on Radko Gudas’ left skate. “Obviously there were a lot of ups and downs in that third period, but found a way. It was a big win against a really good team.”
Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan scored the overtime winner. In 172 NHL regular season and playoff games, he scored only six goals, ranking it in the top three for his career.
“I was thinking about passing first, but (Czechia’s Radek Simek) gave me too much room,” Kukan said. “The shot from there is always dangerous.”
Timo Meyer of the New Jersey Devils and Pius Suter of the St. Louis Blues also scored for Switzerland, and 38-year-old national team goaltender Leonardo Zanoni stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced.
Fiala, the Los Angeles Kings’ second-leading scorer, had surgery to repair what the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said was only a lower left leg injury. He sent a video message to his teammates from his hospital bed and coach Patrick Fischer expects Fiala to return to the athletes’ village on Monday.
“He’s still with us,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We’ll play for him. And obviously you don’t like to see an injury like that. He’s one of our best players, so it’s obviously a tough loss for us. But we know he’s still stuck with us, and he’ll be cheering us on.”
<a href=