5 key takeaways from Canada's hard-fought victory over Switzerland
On Friday, Canada took down Switzerland 5-1 to clinch the No. 1 seed in Group A at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Here are our five biggest takeaways:
17-97-29 line is hockey heaven
When Nathan MacKinnon joined Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini on Canada's first line in the second period Friday, the hockey world perked up.
Ohhhh, fun, let's see how this goes!
The line featuring three of the NHL's top four point-getters immediately impacted the game, turning looks of awe into grins in Canada and facepalms everywhere else. McDavid, MacKinnon, and Celebrini - all first overall picks, all faces of the league - sharing the ice amounted to hockey heaven from a viewing experience and, crucially for Canada, two goals on the scoreboard.
There's a ton of overlap between McDavid's and MacKinnon's skill sets, but world-class players are world class because they're malleable; they can instantly figure out how to feed off teammates' strengths to maximize the fit.
McDavid, who's playing some of the finest hockey of his illustrious career at 29, became the puck carrier and primary playmaker. Celebrini, 19 but performing like a 1,000-game veteran, was the forechecker, puck retriever, and primary shooter. MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy contender at 30, was the net-driving dual threat as both the secondary playmaker and secondary shooter.
That's one of the most talented lines ever assembled in international competition - the current two best players in the world, plus arguably another top-10 guy in Celebrini, wheeling around the ice during five-on-five action.
McDavid tallied his first career Olympic goal while driving his two-game point total to six. He also delivered a few crushing body checks to continue a trend of Canada's superstars - MacKinnon among them - laying the body in the early stages of the tournament. Swiss defenseman Andrea Glauser, one of McDavid's victims Friday, was forced to leave the game due to injury.
Head coach Jon Cooper's decision to load up the first line helped MacKinnon, who played just 14:44 in Canada's near-perfect 5-0 win over Czechia, skate for roughly two extra minutes. It also created a pestering two-way trio further down the lineup, with towering Tom Wilson taking MacKinnon's spot alongside relentless left winger Brandon Hagel and smart center Nick Suzuki.
Cooper might shuffle the forwards again in the final round-robin game against France on Sunday. It's possible the coaching staff believes there's an even better way of constructing four lines. At the very least, though, Team Canada knows it has the Celebrini-McDavid-MacKinnon combo in its back pocket.
Harley quickly proving worth
Thomas Harley wasn't a lock to make Canada's roster despite impressing at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off. His season in Dallas has been substandard.
Milan has been entirely different story, however. The 6-foot-3, slick-skating defenseman has looked fantastic and was especially noticeable in 18:13 against the Swiss. His risk-reward assessments were on point - so smooth and confident with the puck, leading to a goal off the rush in the first period, and also poised and responsible in defensive situations.
Harley and partner Drew Doughty, who's a straightforward shutdown defenseman at this stage of his career, complement each other extremely well.
Canada entered the tournament with one pairing (Devon Toews with Cale Makar) set in stone. It's safe to say Harley and Doughty have become the second.
Newcomers didn't disappoint
Canada made three lineup changes Friday, subbing in goalie Logan Thompson, winger Seth Jarvis, and defenseman Travis Sanheim for Jordan Binnington, Brad Marchand, and Josh Morrissey, respectively.
None of them disappointed - though one impressed more than the others.
Thompson showcased the tremendous length and athleticism he's become known for over the past two seasons while logging starter's minutes for the Capitals. His 24-save performance solidified his standing as the Plan B option if starter Binnington gets injured or falters early in an elimination-stage game.
Cooper told reporters postgame Friday that Morrissey (injured against Czechia) will remain out Sunday, which means Sanheim is set to appear in back-to-back games. It'll be interesting to see if some healthy veterans get the day off considering the low stakes and minimal threat France poses.
Tournament trend emerges
Officiating was a major storyline ahead of the tournament. How would NHLers fare in games called by the International Ice Hockey Federation rulebook?
It's turned out to be a non-story. Most of the stuff usually whistled down at IIHF events - clean but hard hits, little slashes and hooks, etc. - hasn't been called. There's a couple of reasons for this: many of the referees and linesmen working the Olympics are also NHL officials; and second, the IIHF rulebook has been slowly reworked recently to more or less reflect the NHL's.
Another pre-tournament storyline was the wonky ice surface dimensions.
The neutral zone in Milan is roughly three feet shorter than that in an NHL rink. That may seem like an inconsequential difference, but the style of play we've seen so far suggests three feet is in fact a pretty big deal. Most games have been grinding contests in which attacking teams have often opted to dump the puck into the offensive zone and forecheck. Defensemen have been able to hold tight neutral-zone gaps and thus limit clean, carry-in zone entries.
Friday's battle between rivals Sweden and Finland was a prime example.
To my eye, Canada's games have been the exception to the rule - for the most part, unclogged neutral zones and plenty of fast-break opportunities. Perhaps the powerhouse nation is too much for opposing teams to contain.
Switzerland puts up strong fight
I was thoroughly impressed by the Swiss' performance Friday. The four-goal gap in the final score doesn't reflect the stiff test Canada faced.
Speedy Switzerland was arguably the better team through 20 minutes. The scoring chances were 9-7 in their favor, according to hockey analyst Dimitri Filipovic, and they started the second down just 2-1. (See above for the signature lineup change that flipped the game on its head.)
Switzerland's no longer a pushover in best-on-best competition. Nico Hischier, Roman Josi, Kevin Fiala, Timo Meier, J.J. Moser, Nino Niederreiter, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Pius Suter are eight legitimately good NHLers. The country's deep enough at every position to contend for a medal in Milan.
What a scary scene that was with two minutes left in the third period, though. Fiala had to be stretchered off the ice due to an apparent left leg injury. Unsurprisingly, the Kings winger has been ruled out for the rest of Switzerland's schedule.
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).