Wilson helps Canada end perfect preliminary round with a bang

MILAN – Tom Wilson put an exclamation mark on Canada’s 10-2 win over France on Sunday by taking part in the first fight at the Olympics since 1998.

“It was important,” said defenceman Drew Doughty. “Tom does a lot of things for this team. He’s known for that back in Washington and it’s not expected here by any means, but when they take a run at one of our big shots, really anybody, it’s great to see.”

Defenceman Pierre Crinon, who plays for Grenoble in the French league, drew the ire of Team Canada because of a high hit on centre Nathan MacKinnon in the third period.

“I didn’t love it,” MacKinnon said. “Elbow to my chin and I don’t have the puck. What do you think?”

MacKinnon smiled, but you could still sense his frustration.

“It was unnecessary,” MacKinnon said. “I don’t think Tom started anything. He just responded to a dirty hit. I appreciate it.”

French captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had tried to calm things down, but Wilson wanted his pound of flesh.

“I understand their guy going,” said Bellemare, who faced Wilson many times during his 10-year NHL career. “It was a big hit on MacKinnon and then there was another one on [Connor] McDavid. Obviously, their guys are going to wake up and I’m OK with it. I don’t know if I can go and tell our guys to pull off. I know Wilson pulled off a few times, which was very generous, which is why he probably got pissed that some of our guys hit their guys. But unfortunately, as a small nation, we don’t have the luxury of realizing at times who has the puck or not. It’s just the guys are playing hockey.”

Crinon did apologize in the immediate aftermath of the hit.

“He said, ‘Sorry.’ Thanks, I guess, for saying sorry,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously I appreciate Tom standing up for me. From what I understand, he’s not going to get suspended so definitely appreciate him doing that.”

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed there will be no supplemental discipline for Wilson.

MacKinnon appeared to be agitated the rest of the game and later took his own roughing penalty. He seemed to hurt his knee on a hit late in the game.

MacKinnon said he was feeling “fine” after the game.

“I feel good,” the Colorado Avalanche centre said.

“He’s a bull in a China shop so it will take a lot more than that to knock him down,” head coach Jon Cooper added when asked if he was concerned about lingering effects from the hit.

Sunday’s win allowed Canada to clinch the No. 1 seed at the end of preliminary-round play. The United States also went 3-0-0-0, but Canada had a better goal differential.

Canada gets a bye to Wednesday’s quarterfinal where they will face the winner of the game between Czechia and Denmark. The U.S. will face the winner of the game between Sweden and Latvia.

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Fighting is rare at international events, because it carries an automatic game misconduct unlike in the NHL where it’s just a five-minute penalty.

Wilson’s decision to drop the gloves resonated throughout Canada’s group.

“I think that’s a big part of what we’re all about,” Cooper said. “These guys will go through a wall for each other and it’s fun to watch. We’re used to a lot more than what happened. It’s harmless in the grand scheme of things.”

The Olympic fight came exactly one year from the day Canada and the United States engaged in three fights in nine seconds to open a game at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Wilson scored the game’s opening goal and also added an assist. It is believed that the bruising Capitals winger recorded the first Gordie Howe hat trick in Olympic history.

Wilson was back on the top line with McDavid and Macklin Celebrini to start Sunday’s game. Cooper did go back to MacKinnon in that right-wing spot at times, although the coach seems to prefer a balanced approach.

“There’s a lot of players that want the puck and there’s only one puck out there,” Cooper said of the loaded-up line. “You have to get to the interior, and they were starting to do it a little bit more and we’ll see what happens. It depends on who we play and matchups and situations.”

Wilson is the kind of guy who lives in the interior of the ice.

“He’s not a guy that we’re just bringing in to fight every single night,” said defenceman Cale Makar. “He’s an effective player outside of that.”

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The other big moment in Sunday’s game came in the second period when Celebrini was hauled down on a breakaway leading to a penalty shot. Unlike in the NHL where the player who drew the call has to take the shot, at the Olympics the team can choose.

Referee Kyle Rehman informed Cooper that he had a choice to make.

“And then 18 guys on the bench turned around and said, ‘Yeah, coach, who are you going to pick?’ I see Macklin doing his little circles out there ready to go so there was no way I was pulling him off,” Cooper said with a grin. “That’s who the crowd came to see and he delivered ... I would’ve been booed out of the building if I didn’t let him shoot.”

Celebrini, 19, is the youngest NHL player at the Olympics.

“I had no idea that you could pick a shooter,” the San Jose Sharks star insisted. “I just assumed it was me. That’s why I skated out there. If they sent somebody else to take my place I would’ve got off the ice. Yeah, I had no idea you could pick.”

Celebrini, who is 2/9 in shootouts in the NHL, looked very comfortable in the situation.

“Just ice in his veins,” said reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett. “It didn’t faze him at all. He’s such a confident kid in a good way. You can just see it. Just such a composed play on the goal. It’s awesome to see a young guy with that much confidence.”

“Pretty amazing move,” Makar said. “Very silky player. It’s fun to watch that.”

Celebrini is the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot at the Olympics. Alexei Yashin (1998), Milan Hejduk (2006), Sidney Crosby (2010), Corey Perry (2014) and Patrick Kane (2014) all missed previously.

Celebrini scored a second goal later in the game. With four goals, Celebrini is tied with Germany’s Tim Stutzle for the tournament lead through three games.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a guy come into the league and play like he’s been in the league for 15 years,” said Bellemare. “He plays like a veteran, I feel. I think he’s 19 or whatever it is, God damn. It’s good I stopped in the NHL because if this is how it’s going to look, it’s better for me to not be there anymore.”

Celebrini also drew two penalties on top of the penalty shot.

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Celebrini is the break-out star in Milan, but McDavid is the star. He produced a third straight three-point game on Sunday and is now averaging a point per period at the Olympics.

“Point per period? I just got to digest that for a second,” Cooper said with a smile. “Listen, you can’t throw around ‘Best player of the world’ easily. You can debate all you want, but he is most definitely up there. I would never start talking in those kinds of terms unless I knew him off the ice and how he works and how he conducts himself and his humility and all these other things that he brings. It’s super impressive to watch and he deserves this because he’s been playing in the best tournament in the world and shining like this. I don’t know, it’s pretty fun to watch.”

On one hand, it’s expected considering McDavid is leading the NHL in points this season with 96 in 58 games. Nonetheless, it’s still impressive to see the Edmonton Oilers centre dominate in this manner in a best-on-best event.

“He’s one of the best players in the world,” Bellmare said. “I wasn’t expecting anything different. What I see in him [that is] different is that he’s hustling and hitting guys. It’s fun to see a guy that is that talented decide,’‘You know what, I’m going to show I can grind too.’ That’s cool. You gotta respect that.”

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Wilson’s fight, Celebrini’s penalty shot and McDavid’s magic overshadowed what was a history-making performance by Crosby. Canada’s captain scored a goal and added two assists and, in the process, boosted his total at the Olympics to 16 points. He has now passed Jarome Iginla (14) for the most points by a Canadian NHL player at the Olympics.

That was news to Doughty, who was also teammates with Crosby in 2010 and 2014.

“Oh, it’s amazing,” Doughty exclaimed. “It’s been a privilege to play with him. I don’t know how else to put it. Sid’s the man. It’s been an honour to play with him.”

Has Crosby changed at all since scoring the golden goal in Vancouver?

“No, actually,” Doughty said with his trademark toothy grin. “Not at all. He’s the same person. It’s the same joking around with each other. He hasn’t changed.”

At the end of the handshake line on Sunday, French goalie Julian Junca shared a moment with Crosby.

“I told him the goal he scored wasn’t that nice,” Junca said with a smile.

Crosby’s goal deflected in off the stick of French forward Dylan Fabre, who was backchecking hard.

What was Crosby’s response to Junca?

“He said, ‘Yeah, bad luck for me,’” Junca shared with another big smile. “It’s so nice to play against those guys and to talk with them, to chat with them, and how nice they are. You just enjoy the moment too and you can chat and laugh about the game, because those guys are good.”

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Cooper initially said that Brad Marchand would be in the lineup against France on Sunday, but the winger ended up missing a second straight game.

“Listen, he’ll be in the quarters,” Cooper said. “He’s going to play there. In the end, we want everybody to make sure they’re 100 per cent and we thought this was a game that if we didn’t have to play him we didn’t need to.”

Marchand sustained an injury while playing with the Florida Panthers on Jan. 29, but returned for one NHL game before coming to Milan. Is he still dealing with something?

“He was,” Cooper said. “But not anymore.”

Marchand skated on Sunday morning.

Canada had a day off on Monday.

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Defenceman Josh Morrissey also skated on Sunday morning. It was the first time he was spotted on the ice since leaving Thursday’s opening game with an undisclosed injury.

What’s his status moving forward?

“He’ll be in practice Tuesday so we’ll see then,” Cooper said.

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Canada’s lines to start Sunday’s game:

Celebrini - McDavid - Wilson

Hagel - MacKinnon - Suzuki

Marner - Crosby - Stone

Jarvis - Horvat - Reinhart

Bennett

Toews - Makar

Harley - Parayko

Sanheim - Doughty

Theodore

Binnington

Thompson

Scratches: Marchand, Morrissey, Kuemper