Sidney Crosby Reveals Why He Was Surprised by Mitch Marner in Olympic Opener vs. Czechia

Team Canada couldn’t have asked for a better start to its Olympic campaign. In their highly anticipated opener, Canada delivered a statement performance, blanking Czechia 5–0 in a game that lived up to every bit of the pre-tournament hype.

But amid all the goals and highlight-reel plays, one moment stood out, and even caught Sidney Crosby off guard.

Mitch Marner’s Performance Sparks Praise From Sidney Crosby

Early in the second period, Canada struck for its second goal of the night, and it was a beauty. The play started with Crosby battling along the boards against Czech defenseman Jan Rutta. Crosby won the puck and quickly fed it to Mitch Marner.

Marner cut hard toward the net and threaded a perfect saucer pass through traffic, slipping it across the crease to Mark Stone. The puck somehow avoided the sliding stick and skates of David Spacek and landed tape-to-tape for Stone, who tapped it past goaltender Lukas Dostal.

Even Crosby, who had two assists in the game, was impressed. “I actually didn’t know he could land the sauce in a tight window like that,” Crosby said after the game.

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A Strong Start From the Next Generation

Canada opened the scoring in dramatic fashion late in the first period. With just 5.7 seconds remaining, rookie standout Macklin Celebrini redirected a point shot from Cale Makar at the top of the crease to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

For Celebrini, it was a dream Olympic debut. “Being his first Olympics and that sort of thing, he looked pretty comfortable out there. It was great to see him get one,” Crosby said via The Athletic.

Canada doubled its lead at 6:40 of the second when Stone finished off Marner’s setup to make it 2-0.

Later in the period, Bo Horvat made it 3-0 with a highlight-reel finish. After taking a smooth pass from Brad Marchand near center ice, Horvat skated in alone and beat Dostal with a slick forehand-to-backhand move, sliding the puck through the pads.

In the third, on the power play, Nathan MacKinnon buried a crisp passing sequence alongside Connor McDavid and Crosby to push the score to 4-0.

Then Nick Suzuki sealed the deal at 15:23 of the final frame. He finished off Canada’s fifth goal while McDavid collected his third assist of the night. In the end, Jordan Binnington turned aside 26 shots to preserve the shutout.

Next up, Canada faces Switzerland on Friday at 3:10 p.m. ET.