Meier scores twice, Switzerland defeats France in Group A opener

Timo Meier scored twice for Team Switzerland in a 4-0 win against Team France in the opener of Group A at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 men's hockey tournament at Santagiulia Arena in Milan on Thursday.

Meier, a forward with the New Jersey Devils, had four shots on goal and was plus-3 playing in his first Olympic Games.

"Get the first (goal) and kind of nerves aside the focus on this game, thought we handled it pretty well for most parts of the game," Meier said. "... Adjusted well in the third to secure that win."

Leonardo Genoni made 27 saves, and Damien Riat and J.J. Moser scored for Switzerland (1-0-0-0).

Genoni, the goalie behind Switzerland winning silver medals at the past two IIHF World Championships, was named Most Valuable Player of the 2025 tournament, when he was 5-0-2 with a 0.99 goals-against average, .953 save percentage and four shutouts in seven games.

"He has shown it for decades now on an international level," Moser said. "Confident and very sure that he does not get the credit that he deserves just because he never played in in the NHL. But on the international level, he has been one of the best goalies over the last decade, for sure, and he showed that today."

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Switzerland-France

Antoine Keller made 39 saves for France (0-0-0-1), which has one NHL player on its roster, Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier.

"We're still learning," Texier said, "but as competitors, it's a bit frustrating. We wanted to win. We'll stay positive, but we need to improve in several areas. We just lost 4-0 against a good country. We are a smaller hockey nation. Despite that, we showed character."

Riat gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 55 seconds into the game, scoring on a rebound of a shot by Sven Andrighetto.

Moser, a defenseman with the Tampa Bay Lightning, made it 2-0 at 3:06 of the first with a wrist shot from the left circle. He had six points in 10 games at the 2025 Worlds.

"Certainly, a good start for myself, too," Moser said. "If you can score two goals early on, gives you a bit more confidence, gives you a little bit more breathing room."

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

France had 11 shots on goal in the first but was unable to beat Genoni.

"I think it was hard at the beginning of the game," forward Charles Bertrand said. "Unfortunately, we conceded two goals early so it's hard to come back. ... We tried to push but we couldn't get a goal."

Meier increased the lead to 3-0 by tapping in a pass in front at 10:08 of the third after Swiss captain Roman Josi circled the net and fed him in front. He scored his second of the game for a 4-0 lead at 16:13 when he threw a shot from the left circle that went through Keller's pads.

"Timo is all-around a great player," Swiss forward and Devils teammate Nico Hischier said. "Not just the goals he scored. Also, the forecheck he did and the backcheck. He was very present in this game. He's all-in for the team."

France was 0-for-4 on the power play in its first Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game regardless," France captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "I think that after that [start] ... we got a little calmer and then started playing our game and in the third, we are tipping the ice our way. We don't score on the chances we have. I think it's more on the power play. We had a bunch of power plays, and we got to have those killer instincts."

Each team plays again Friday, with Switzerland facing Canada and France playing Czechia.

"We knew this wasn't going to be an easy game," Meier said. "It's a big win. Got to use that as an energy and boost knowing what opponent we have tomorrow."

NOTES: Genoni (38 years, 168 days) became the oldest goalie to have a shutout in an Olympic game with NHL players, breaking the record held by Mike Richter (35 years, 151 days) for Team USA in 2002 against Germany. … Meier became the first Swiss NHL player to score multiple goals in an Olympic game. He is the third player from Team Switzerland with a multigoal game in the Olympics with NHL players (Paul Di Pietro, two against Canada in 2006; Martin Pluss, two against Austria in 2002). … It was the fourth shutout for Switzerland in Olympics involving NHL players (Jonas Hiller against Latvia and Czechia in 2014; Martin Gerber against Canada in 2006).