Canada easily defeated Germany, 5-1, on Thursday as the teams opened Pool A play. 

Canada and Germany hit the ice for the first time at the 2022 Winter Olympics for their Group A matchup. Canada wasted no time proving why they are favored to go far in the tournament. Behind a huge hit from Eric O’Dell that created space, defenseman Alex Grant found the back of the net with a wicked wrister, giving Canada an early 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.  

Canada’s second goal came from a one-timer off the stick of Ben Street past the glove hand of Mathias Niederberger. Less than a minute later, former NHLer Daniel Winnik scored on a beautiful cross-ice pass form Adam Cracknell. The Canadians had three goals on six shots. Things would settle down and the two teams headed into the break with Canada up 3-0.

Team Canada did make things a little harder on themselves committing five straight penalties to end the first and start the second. Luckily their penalty kill unit held Germany scoreless.

Later in the period, Germany did get on the scoreboard after a bad turnover by Canada in front of the net. Germany’s Tobias Rieder capitalized to bring the Germans within two.

It didn’t take long for Canada to respond. On a power play, Maxim Noreau unloaded a slapshot near the blue line, burying the puck past Niederberger before he even had a chance to respond. The score remained 4-1 heading into the second intermission.

The third period was mostly uneventful. Canada tacked on another goal halfway through the period. Jordan Weal was in the slot and had no trouble lifting the puck to find the back of the net, giving Canada the 5-1 advantage.

Team Canada looked calm and totally in control in their 5-1 win against Germany. The squad will be getting a boost as it was announced head coach Claude Julien will be returning to the bench. Julien originally didn’t travel to China due to an injury. Canada’s next game is against Team USA on Friday at 11:10 p.m. ET.

Click here to view all the stats from Canada’s win over Germany, and click here to watch the full event replay from start to finish.