Canada breezed through the preliminary round, going 3-0, outscoring Czechia, Switzerland and France 20-3 and outshooting them 121-65.

They were expected to dominate, and they did, but now they enter the playoff round and another date with Czechia. The Czechs defeated Denmark 3-2 yesterday, and they will be looking for a better performance than their 5-0 loss to Canada last Wednesday.

Canada is the clear favourite, but in a one-game winner-take-all, upsets are easier than in a seven-game series. I don’t expect Canada to take Czechia lightly. Canada has been in control of every game thus far and hasn’t looked overconfident or lacking in focus at any point. Czechia doesn’t have the top-end talent of Canada, or the depth, and I expect Canada to control the game.

Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett didn’t practice yesterday, but head coach Jon Cooper said it was just maintenance and expects them to play today. Josh Morrissey also skated, but Cooper wouldn’t commit to him being available yet. He said he needed to check on his status. If any of them are ailing too much, it makes sense to rest them for Friday’s semifinal. Canada has enough depth to absorb MacKinnon sitting out a game, if need be, but ideally, he is in the lineup.

Through three games, Connor McDavid has been unstoppable. He has nine points in three games and has already set a new benchmark for Canadian NHLers in the Olympics. Jonathan Toews had the previous mark of eight points, while Finland’s Teemu Selanne owns the record for most points in a tourney with 11. McDavid will surely break that mark before the tournament is over. He arrived early to Milan to allow him more time to adjust to the time zone, and he’s been dialled in every game. He and youngster Macklin Celebrini have found instant chemistry. Celebrini leads Canada with four goals and is one shy of Tying Jarome Iginla’s mark for most goals by a Canadian (NHL edition) in one tournament. Iginla had five goals in 2010.

Celebrini is second on Canada in points with 4-2-6, followed by Sidney Crosby (2-4-6), Nathan MacKinnon (2-3-5), Mark Stone (2-2-4), Cale Makar (1-3-4) and Mitch Marner (0-4-4). The McDavid/Celebrini combination has been great, but so has the line of Stone-Crosby-Marner. They’ve become Cooper’s reliable line. They’ve started two of the three games and will likely be the line he plays against David Pastrnak’s today. McDavid or MacKinnon’s line could play against Czechia’s top line as well, but why not have them in major mismatches against Czechia’s second and third lines?

While some claim Canada hasn’t been tested, they haven’t looked like a team who is overconfident or underestimating their opponents. Expect it to continue in their second meeting in a week against Czechia.

— The most points by a Canadian in any Olympics is 37 points set by Harry Watson in 1924. Granted, Canada dominated that tournament with Czechoslovakia 30-0, Sweden 22-0, Switzerland 33-0 in the preliminary round, then they beat Great Britain 19-2 in the semifinal and defeated the USA 6-1 in the final.

Canada scored 110 goals in the tournament and Watson factored in on 33.6 per cent of them. So far McDavid has factored in on 45 per cent of Canada’s 20 goals. Just a reminder to Edmonton Oilers fans who think the Oilers rely too much on McDavid when he factors in on 50-55 per cent of their goals. He’s just that good.

— Brad Marchand practised yesterday and Cooper said he is available to play. If Marchand is ready to play, I think Seth Jarvis will come out of the lineup.

— There were no upsets in yesterday’s qualifying round. Germany beat France 5-1 with Leon Draisaitl leading the way with 1-2-3 while Josh Samanski chipped in with 1-1-2. Switzerland defeated Italy 3-0, Czechia downed Denmark 3-2 and Sweden beat Latvia.

The quarterfinals will feature 1 v. 8 in Canada and Czechia, then USA (#2) v. Sweden (#7), Slovakia (#3) v. Germany (#6) and Finland (#4) v. Switzerland. If Canada defeats Czechia, they will face the lowest remaining seeded team, meaning they will play either Sweden, Germany or Finland in the semifinal.

— Interesting thought process from Czechia’s Martin Necas. “We let them win the first one because we know we’re not going to win two in a row against Canada.” He’s correct in that it was highly unlikely they’d beat Canada twice in a row. I understand why he says this because he and his teammates need to believe they can win. They will be a heavy underdog, but if they don’t think they can win, they have zero chance of winning.

— Stone has had an excellent Olympics. He had 60 points in 41 regular season NHL games, and his 1.46 points/game is just below Celebrini’s 1.47. Had Stone not missed 16 games, I doubt those who questioned his inclusion on the Olympic team would have said anything. Stone’s passion and relentless work ethic along with underrated offensive skills is why Vegas will be a contender in the playoffs. I’d love to see another Edmonton/Vegas matchup in the second round of the NHL playoffs.