Canada Strong in 5-1 Win Over Switzerland in Group A Opener

Two-time defending Olympic champions Canada continued their success from the 2017 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, beating a similar Swiss squad to the team they defeated in the championship game by a score of 5-1 to kick off Group A Olympic action on Thursday.

The Canadians were strong out of the gate, scoring a pair of goals in the opening frame to make it 2-0. At 2:57, defenceman Chris Lee's shot was tipped in over Leonardo Genoni by Rene Bourque, beating the Swiss netminder to make it 1-0 after the first big scoring chance of the game.

At 7:39, Bourque's big body made its presence known in front of the net. Maxim Noreau would rip a hard shot from the point, using Bourque's ability to beat out the Swiss defencemen to anchor himself in front before Noreau's shot went in to make it 2-0.

Canada would find a way to chase Genoni after back to back goals in the second. At 5:00, Bourque grabbed his second of the game after Derek Roy walked in and danced around Felicien Du Bois, with the puck landing on Bourque's stick. Bourque would spin and tap the puck between the legs of Genoni, extending Canada's lead to three goals. 

Then, not even a minute later, Wojtek Wolski made a slick move around a slower Swiss defender, skating in on net before sending a quick shot past Genoni, ending his night in favour of Jonas Hiller.

Switzerland needed a string of power play opportunity to put them on the board. With 12:37 left in the contest, Simon Moser grabbed a rebound off of a Thomas Ruefenacht scoring chance in front, with Moser tapping the puck between the legs of Ben Scrivens to make it 4-1. The goal did little to change the course of the game, however, as Canada would get an empty netter from Wolski to take a 5-1 victory to open Group A action in South Korea.

Canada will meet up with the Czech Republic on Saturday at 12:10 local time, with both teams looking to grab to improve to 2-0. The Swiss will hope they can beat the Koreans four hours later in a battle that will likely decide who finishes third in Group A.

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