A short-handed goal and two assists from Mark Stone powered Canada to a 10-2 victory over France on Sunday, securing the No. 1 seed in the Olympic quarterfinals with a perfect 3-0 record in group play.
The Golden Knights captain opened the scoring in the first period and later added two helpers as Canada finished with a plus-17 goal differential, edging out Team USA for the top spot. The Americans also went 3-0 after a 5-1 win over Germany, but their plus-11 differential left them second in the group.
“When you go into these tournaments, you expect everyone’s best coming in, coming out of the gates in the first period,” Stone said. “But we feel like if we’re playing 60 minutes, rolling over four lines, we’re going to start wearing teams down. I think that’s what ended up happening.”
Mitch Marner and Shea Theodore each recorded two assists for Canada, while Noah Hanifin picked up a helper for the United States. Jack Eichel finished plus-1 with two shots for Team USA, which scored five unanswered goals before Germany’s Tim Stutzle ended Connor Hellebuyck’s shutout bid midway through the third period.
The quarterfinals begin Wednesday. Canada will face the winner of Czechia — featuring Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl — and Denmark. Team USA, seeking its first gold since 1980, takes on the winner of Sweden — with Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson — and Latvia.
Knights goaltender Akira Schmid and Switzerland will play Italy in the qualification round; the winner meets Finland.
On the women’s side, Team USA and Canada are each one win from meeting for gold for the seventh time in eight Olympics since women’s hockey was added in 1998.
