Ice hockey-Canada ease past Swiss, Finland beat Sweden, Slovakia, Czechs notch wins

MILAN, Feb 13 : Canada put on another ice hockey highlight reel on Friday, beating Switzerland 5-1, and Finland bested Nordic rivals Sweden 4-1 to get their Olympic title defence back on track, while Slovakia held off hosts Italy and Czech Republic beat France.

The NHL-laden Canada team, hot favourites in Milan, capped the third day of the men's tournament with a memorable performance that saw the future Hall of Famer Connor McDavid score his first Olympic goal.

McDavid added two assists, making it five so far through Canada's first two games, while Thomas Harley, 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini, captain Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon added goals for Canada.

"We're a deep team no matter how (coach Jon Cooper) puts the lines," said McDavid. "Sometimes it's good to get thrown right into action."

FINLAND PRISTINE AGAINST RIVALS

Gold medallists in 2022, Finland suffered a confidence-rattling defeat by underdogs Slovakia in their group stage opener but were superb in a physical meeting between Europe's two best teams earlier on Friday.

Ottawa Senators defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo and Florida Panthers centre Anton Lundell scored in the first period, as NHL players returned to the Games after a 12-year absence.

Joel Armia added another score in the second, while Mikko Rantanen had an empty netter in the third for Finland.

Sweden is set to play Slovakia while Finland play Italy in the final Group B games on Saturday. 

Matinpalo's slapshot rattled off the post into the net midway through the first period and forward Lundell tipped the puck out of the air and into the Sweden net with less than five minutes to go before the intermission.

Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin trimmed the lead when he sent in a power play goal from the blue line