Grades, questions from Canada’s Olympic hockey win vs. France

Through three games of the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey tournament, Canada has no cause for concern.

Coming off a 10-2 win over rival France on Sunday, the Canadians are 3-0-0-0, and potentially headed to the No. 1 seed in the knockout rounds thanks to a plus-17 goal differential.

Canada had nine Goal scorer in this game: Tom Wilson, devon toews, mark stone, black capricorn, Sidney Crosby, connor mcdavid, bo horvat, Brandon HagelAnd two for the 19 year old McLean CelebriniWhose meteoric rise Continuing.

What we learned in this final preliminary round game for Canada, including the biggest takeaways, an overall team grade, the competition’s top players and one big question ahead of the next matchup.

Takeaway 1: Connor McDavid is a bad guy

The Canadian top-line center back was a threat everywhere against France, collecting two assists early in the game to give him a tournament-leading eight points. that number tied jonathan toews The most points ever scored in a single Olympics – and McDavid accomplished it in just three games.

It was not completed even at that time. We all predicted McDavid would run Canada’s attack, but he is exceeding even the loftiest expectations placed upon his shoulders. McDavid was creating one awkward chance after another for Canada on Sunday, repeatedly getting loose behind the French defense and putting pressure on goaltender Julian Janka.

The Edmonton Oilers captain could have scored several times, but it was not until early in the third when McDavid hit the twine to reach nine points in nine periods (two goals, seven assists and 13 shots on goal) to surpass Toews and take sole possession of the Olympic record.

There are few superlatives left to describe the type of player McDavid is, but he is treating each matchup like it is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and he is determined to win them all.

Takeaway 2: Jordan Binnington came back to earth

The Canadian goaltender earned his praise for his impressive shutout performance against Czechia in the tournament opener. Binnington was less influential than in France.

He gave up his first goal of the Olympics just seconds after Canada took a first-period lead – and it was an ugly rebound in the slot by Binnington that allowed Florian Duray to answer Tom Wilson’s early salvo.

Canada and France combined to score three goals in a minute in a hot start at Milan’s Santagiulia Arena. 👀 pic.twitter.com/zwerijrLSj

– NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) 15 February 2026

Admittedly, given Canada’s overall dominance and France’s lack of offensive zone time, it was difficult for Binnington to get into a rhythm from there. But when Binnington was called, he did not show much confidence.

Right after McDavid increased Canada’s lead to 7–1 in the final frame, Binnington once again allowed a quick reaction goal – this one from Sacha Trell – which flopped under the goaltender’s arm. This gave the French two goals on just eight shots. It was a tough look for Binnington, especially given Canada’s sensational efforts before him.

So which performance is the real Binnington? Maybe only he knows for sure.

Takeaway 3: Canada can do it all

It’s easy to point to Canada’s opponent on Sunday and say that the extremely lopsided result was predictable. But it’s not just the final score. Its How Canadians did it.

Canada got contributions from forwards and defencemen, at 5-on-5 and short-handed and even on a penalty shot from Celebrini, who continued to impress in his Olympic debut.

Even the presence of Wilson, who completed an Olympic Gordie Howe hat-trick after being hit hard by France’s Pierre Crinnon. nathan mackinnon At the end of the game, several aspects of the Canadian roster were shown.

And yet there is still room for improvement. MacKinnon – who was playing on a line with McDavid and Celebrini against Switzerland – their chemistry isn’t what it used to be nick suzuki on his wing, which might encourage coach John Cooper to move Suzuki down from the lineup and put brad marchand With MacKinnon on the second line. Not that Canada has had many problems putting the puck in the net during this tournament, but it will want to be well prepared for the quarters.

Player of the game: mark stoneLW

We really don’t appreciate the stone enough. True, the experienced forward will never be the fastest skater. But he has been superb in almost every aspect of Canada’s Olympic run so far, and he was especially good in Sunday’s win over France.

Not that Stone can produce momentum-changing moments like he did when he scored short-handed with seconds left in the first period to give Canada a 3-1 lead. It’s all the little parts of Stone’s game that make him special. He’s very smart with the puck, puts himself in the right spots to be an effective linemate, and his instincts are second to none (the setup on Crosby’s goal at the end of the second was a great example).

Stone is like a chameleon in that he can slip into whatever role Canada needs him to play and make it look easy. He’s the best teammate and deserves a share of the spotlight being grabbed by Canada’s superstars.

The big question for the next round: Who will start in the Canada net?

It looked like Binnington would be the No. 1 option among the Canadian players after defeating Czechia to open the tournament.

But logan thompson The performance was also impressive against a tough Swiss team, and Binnington’s poor performance on Sunday raises questions about who Cooper can rely on when the knockout stages begin.

Cooper has been a staunch supporter of Binnington despite the netminder’s struggles in St. Louis this season, and it was Binnington who led Canada to gold in last February’s 4 Nations face-off.

But Cooper can’t afford to be overly emotional in his decision-making. This is a different challenge; The stakes are high. Given that Canada doesn’t even know its next opponent yet, there is no reason for Cooper to reveal his decision about his starter at this point. But it’s a tougher decision than it was before Sunday’s game, when it looked like Binnington or bust. Thompson could be a better option.

Overall Team Grade: A

Despite the goals scored by Binnington, it was the demolition by the Canadians that should have given them the top seed for the knockout stage with a plus-17 goal differential.

He has proved through three games that the Canadian is exactly as advertised: the Canadian is fast and flashy, a scoring powerhouse but with distinctive defensive habits. And it has an unmatched depth of talent at its fingertips.

There is almost too much to talk about how Canadians can expose the opposition. There will be tougher matches ahead than Sunday’s, but Canada can play a high-level team game against any opponent.