Canada crushes Switzerland to open Olympic women's hockey tournament

The Canadian women's hockey team opened its Olympics with a 12-1 victory over Switzerland on Thursday in Beijing, but the win came with a cost.

Melodie Daoust, a key part of Canada's second line that combined for three goals in the first period, left the game and did not return following an awkward hit into the boards during the second period.

The 30-year-old, who won tournament MVP at the 2018 Olympics, appeared to favour her shoulder as she immediately exited to the dressing room following the collision.

The injury put a damper on Canada's fast start which was led by Daoust's linemate, the dynamic 21-year-old Olympic rookie Sarah Fillier.

A look at the collision that took Daoust out of the game for the moment, she has yet to return <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beijing2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Beijing2022</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HockeyCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HockeyCanada</a> <br><br>WATCH: <a href="https://t.co/oa0i8EGCsZ">https://t.co/oa0i8EGCsZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/PinpXrw7z7">pic.twitter.com/PinpXrw7z7</a>

Fillier opened the scoring just over one minute into the game, knocking a rebound out of midair and into the back of the net for her first career Olympic goal at the Games.

The Georgetown, Ont., native was forced to wait an additional 10 minutes for confirmation as officials went to video review, but the goal ultimately stood as Canada's icebreaker in Beijing.

Fillier made sure to leave no doubt when she scored her second minutes later, ripping a slot shot over the blocker of Swiss goalie Andrea Braendli, who stopped 58 of a whopping 70 Canadian attempts on net.

"Just to step on that ice, see the [Olympic] rings, be in a building with Beijing 2022 written all over it and in