Celebrini becomes 1st NHL player to score on penalty shot at Olympics in Canada win

MILAN -- Macklin Celebrini is making history at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

The San Jose Sharks forward became the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot at the Olympics in Team Canada’s 10-2 win against Team France at Santagiulia Arena on Sunday.

“Really good move,” teammate Nathan MacKinnon said. “He’s one of the best players in the world, so he’s going to make goalies pay, for sure.”

With three points (two goals, one assist) against the French, the 19-year-old finished the preliminary round with six points (four goals, two assists) in three games.

Celebrini set the record for goals by a teenager at an Olympics with NHL players, passing defenseman Olli Maatta, who had three goals for Team Finland in Sochi in 2014. He tied the record for points held by forward Evgeni Malkin, who had six points (two goals, four points) in seven games with Team Russia in Torino in 2006.

Celebrini is tied for second in the men’s tournament in scoring with teammate Sidney Crosby (two goals, four assists) and Slovakia forward Juraj Slafkovsky (three goals, three assists). Canada center Connor McDavid was first with nine points (two goals, seven assists).

The penalty shot came late in the second period.

Defenseman Thomas Harley fired a pass from deep in the Canada zone all the way to the France blue line. Celebrini received the puck and broke away ahead of defenseman Florian Chakiachvili, who hooked him and hauled him down in the slot just before he got a shot off.

The referee pointed to center ice at 17:16.

Canada coach Jon Cooper could have picked anyone to take the penalty shot under the tournament rules.

Celebrini has never attempted a penalty shot in the NHL and is 2-for-9 in the shootout since entering the NHL last season. He’s fourth in the League this season with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games but has been third on his own line at times for Team Canada.

McDavid leads the NHL with 96 points (34 goals, 62 assists) in 58 games for the Edmonton Oilers this season. MacKinnon ranks second with 93 points (40 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games for the Colorado Avalanche.

Celebrini circled in the Canada zone as the puck sat at center ice.

“Basically, 18 guys turned around to look at me and were like, ‘Oh, what are you going to do now, Coach?’ as I see Celebrini doing the circle,” Cooper said. “ … I would have been booed out of the building if I didn’t let him shoot.”

Celebrini collected the puck at center ice. He went right, then cut to the middle. A left-handed shot, he faked a backhand, switched to his forehand and flipped the puck past the blocker of goalie Julian Junca, making it look easy.

Canada led 5-1.

“I had a chance there, and I was just happy that I got to redo it,” Celebrini said. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking much. … I’ve been working on that move a little bit in practice, and thankfully it worked.”

Calmly, Celebrini coasted to his left, curled up the boards and slapped gloves with his teammates, starting with McDavid.

Forward Brandon Hagel said he has seen that move 100 times from Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Nikita Kucherov, who is third in the NHL this season with 91 points (29 goals, 62 assists) in 51 games.

“I don’t got that in my bag,” Hagel said. “But he does, and he’s going to be one special player, and it’s fun to watch.”

Celebrini assisted on a goal by McDavid that made it 7-1 just 20 seconds into the third period, then scored the final goal of the game at 11:47.

He’ll have a chance to be a difference-maker in the single-elimination portion of the tournament. Canada (3-0-0-0) won Group A and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.

“We’re just kind of focused on taking steps as a group and trying to get better as this tournament goes on,” Celebrini said, “and I think that was the right step.”