Binnington, Canada shut out Czechia in Olympic opener

MILAN -- The debate over who should be the starting goalie for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 had gone on for weeks and only got stronger as the opener against Team Czechia drew closer.

But when coach Jon Cooper was asked Thursday after a 5-0 win when he decided Jordan Binnington would be his guy here in Milan, it was clear there was no debate in his mind.

“Well, probably about 358 days ago,” Cooper said, referring to right around the time Binnington led Canada to a championship at the 4 Nations Face-Off. “In the end you have to perform.”

And perform he did. The St. Louis Blues goalie made 26 saves to backstop Canada in its Group A opener Wednesday at Santagiulia Arena.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Czechia-Canada

Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki scored for Canada (1-0-0-0), which is looking to win gold at the Olympics featuring NHL players for the third straight time. Canada won gold in 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The NHL did not send players to the Winter Games in 2018 and 2022.

Connor McDavid had three assists, and Sidney Crosby and Thomas Harley each had two assists.

Lukas Dostal made 31 saves for Team Czechia (0-0-1-0).

“He showed it last the few times he played at international level, he shows me every game in Anaheim that he is a world-class goalie,” Czechia captain Radko Gudas said of Dostal, his teammate on the Anaheim Ducks. “We are happy to have him back there. If we are going to have some success he is going to be a big reason why we are still in this tournament. He made some key saves for us and I feel bad we couldn’t help him out more today.”

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

On a roster full of established superstars like Crosby, McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, and rising stars like the 19-year-old Celebrini, Binnington appeared to be the biggest question mark for Canada, mainly because of his struggles with the Blues this season.

He answered many of those questions Thursday.

“It felt good," Binnington said. "Every team, every country has some star players so we know they were going to come at some point. I think we did a good job of holding them down and letting me see pucks and giving me access to play my game."

It’s the same game he played at the 4 Nations last season, when he went 3-1-0 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.

"I have the utmost confidence in that kid,” Cooper said. “He’s proven it even when he stumbles. When push comes to shove, the kid’s been there for us.

“He’s got a lot of pride, a lot of talent and he’s done it a lot on different stages.”

Though the final score was a bit lopsided, Binnington kept Canada in the game early, one of his best saves coming with 1:53 left in the first period against Czechia forward David Kampf, when the goalie dove to stop the puck from going in.

“He was awesome,” MacKinnon said. “Made some big saves. Obviously, I missed my guy back door, and he made a huge save there to keep it 0-0. Amazing save.

“They had some good looks in the first and it would have been a different game without ‘Binner.’”

Canada got on the board with 5.7 seconds left in the first period when Celebrini, a center for the San Jose Sharks, tipped in a shot from Cale Makar on the doorstep.

“First goal at end of first period didn’t help us for sure,” Czechia forward Roman Cervenka said. “They played well and we tried to do our best and didn’t use our chances when we get them, so it’s hard to make a good score when you don’t score goals.”

Celebrini became the first teenager to score a game-winning goal in an Olympics involving NHL players.

“When I met ‘Mack’ this summer, you could tell he had that attitude, that swagger where he was going to be a great player for a long time,” said linemate Tom Wilson. “At that age, you just don’t see that.”

Canada made it 2-0 at 6:40 of the second when Stone tapped in a beautiful feed from Mitch Marner, his Vegas Golden Knights teammate.

Crosby won a battle along the boards with defenseman Jan Rutta, getting the puck to Marner, who cut to the net and slid the puck through the crease to Stone, somehow getting it past the skates of a sliding David Spacek and leaping over Spacek while Stone was putting the puck past Dostal.

Horvat made it 3-0 at 17:26, taking a slick feed from Brad Marchand at the red line, skating in alone on Dostal and finishing the play by going forehand-backhand and sliding the puck through the goalie's pads.

MacKinnon completed a pretty passing play with McDavid and Crosby for a power-play goal at 7:42 of the third to make it 4-0.

“We had a couple of high-end plays there,” Binnington said. “It was good to see them connect for a couple of goals here tonight.”

Suzuki scored at 15:23 of the third to make the score 5-0 and give McDavid his third assist.

Binnington, who is 8-17-6 for St. Louis this season, improved to 4-1-0 for Canada in best-on-best tournaments including NHL players, winning three in a row.

“Obviously a great game, lot of big saves,” said defenseman Colton Parayko, who is Binnington’s teammate with the Blues. “We’re fortunate in St. Louis to have him as our goalie. He keeps us in every game and gives us a chance every night.”

It’s likely Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals will play Canada’s next game, which is Friday against Switzerland (3:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, RDS2, CBC).

Czechia also has a back-to-back, playing Team France on Friday (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN, CBC).

NOTES: Binnington became the fourth Team Canada goalie to have a shutout in an Olympic game involving NHL players, joining Carey Price (24 saves on Feb. 23, 2014 against Sweden and 31 saves on Feb. 21, 2014 against the United States); Roberto Luongo (23 saves on Feb. 14, 2014 against Austria and 15 saves on Feb. 16, 2010 against Norway); and Patrick Roy (18 saves on Feb. 13, 1998 against Belarus). … Canada defenseman Josh Morrissey left with an injury in the second period and did not return; Cooper did not have an update after the game. … Canada won its 11th game in Olympic tournaments involving NHL players, its last loss coming in the round robin of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics against Team USA. … Team Czechia’s last goal at an Olympics with NHL players was scored by Ales Hemsky in a 5-2 loss against Team USA during the quarterfinals of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.