McDavid records 3 assists as Canada cruises past Czechia in men's Olympic hockey opener

Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring, and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the shutout as Canada's NHL stars opened their quest for gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics with a 5-0 victory over Czechia on Thursday.

Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki had the other goals for the Canadians. Connor McDavid had three assists, while Sidney Crosby and Thomas Harley had two assists each.

Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots for the overmatched Czechs.

The NHL is back at the Olympics after a 12-year absence from the international spotlight. The league declined to attend the 2018 event in Pyeongchang, South Korea, before COVID-19 scuttled plans for a return in Beijing four years ago.

Macklin Celebrini scores Canada's 1st Olympic goal with NHL'ers in nearly 12 years

Canada, with a roster of 19 returnees from its victory at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, played its first game at an Olympics with NHLers in 4,373 days.

Switzerland topped France 4-0 in the early Group A game. The Canadians meet the Swiss on Friday, while the Czechs and French will tangle in the other matchup.

Canada was greeted by whistles and boos from the boisterous, colourful, Czech-heavy crowd at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena ahead of Thursday's much-anticipated puck drop.

The Canadians came out flying in the opening moments, including a big hit from McDavid on Lukas Sedlak.

Canada's lightning-quick power play failed to connect despite some decent looks before MacKinnon's shot that flew in past Dostal's glove was negated by a Suzuki tripping penalty.

Binnington — a hero at 4 Nations some 12 months ago — got the start despite some iffy numbers in the NHL this season. David Kampf had a great chance to put the Czechs in front later in the period,