Team Canada provides plenty of passion in latest Olympic win against France
There was 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini making history by becoming the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot in the Olympics. There were Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid putting on another clinic to seal the No. 1 seed in the elimination tournament for Canada. Fifteen players got on the score sheet, an indication of just how deep this team is.
But perhaps the most telling moment came in the third period, when Canada star forward Nathan MacKinnon took a high hit from Pierre Crinon with 8:38 left in the third period. Less than two minutes later, Tom Wilson, MacKinnon’s teammate for just these two weeks, went after Crinon, earning a fighting major and showing the world how tight this team is.
“It’s the Canadian way, it’s what we do,” defenseman Devon Toews said. “We stick up for each other. We’re passionate about hockey. We’re passionate about our team.”
They are also passionate about winning the gold medal and certainly looked like the favorites Sunday. Canada finished the preliminary round 3-0-0-0 and clinched the No. 1 seed after Team USA defeated Team Germany 5-1.
Celebrini, a San Jose Sharks center, had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Mark Stone each had a goal and two assists, Cale Makar and Wilson each had a goal and an assist and Toews, Bo Horvat and Brandon Hagel also scored.
