Canada cruises into the quarterfinals at the Olympics by routing France

MILAN (AP) — Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Canada are rolling into the knockout round at the Olympics as the best team in the tournament.

They may have put the top seed out of the Americans' reach.

Crosby and McDavid each had a goal and two assists in a clinical, businesslike 10-2 dismantling of France on Sunday, which included Tom Wilson fighting the player who delivered a forearm to Nathan MacKinnon's face.

MacKinnon returned and Wilson was ejected, since fighting is a game misconduct under international rules.

Canada finished round robin play unbeaten, outscoring opponents by 17 goals over three games.

The U.S. would need to beat Germany by 10 or more goals on Sunday night to overtake Canada for the No. 1 seed. A win of any kind short of that would put the U.S. second and on a crash course to face seventh-seeded Sweden in the quarterfinals, and an unexpected regulation loss would shake up the already surprising standings.

Sweden is quite the formidable opponent, though Canada showed in the preliminary round that it has the skill, size and finishing ability to skate any other team in Milan out of the building. McDavid has nine points in his first nine periods to lead all scorers at his first Olympics, and Crosby has been great at 38 in his third looking to go 3 for 3 in gold medals.

Macklin Celebrini, Canada's youngest player at 19, scored on a penalty shot and on the power play against France to give him four goals in three games.

Wilson, picked by coach Jon Cooper to ride shotgun on the top line on McDavid's right wing, had a goal along with some big hits.

Mark Stone scored short-handed with 3.4 seconds left in the first period and had two assists. Brandon Hagel had Canada's ninth goal in the third before Celebrini scored the 10th.

Canada outshot France 46-13, making life as easy as possible on goaltender Jordan Binnington, who might want the second goal back but should still be in net Wednesday in the quarterfinals, likely against Czechia or Germany.

Rallying around the absence of injured winger Kevin Fiala, Switzerland beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime to give itself an easy path to the quarterfinals.

Winning the preliminary round finale means captain Roman Josi's team will almost certainly face France or also winless host Italy in the qualification playoffs Tuesday.

“We knew it was a big game,” said Josi, the Nashville Predators defenseman who scored Switzerland's first goal by banking the puck off Radko Gudas' left skate and in. "Obviously a lot of up and downs in that third period but found a way. It was a huge win against a really good team.”

Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan scored the overtime winner. In 172 NHL regular-season and playoff games, he had just six goals and ranked this one top three in his career.

“I was first thinking about passing, but (Czechia's Radek Simek) gave me a little bit too much room,” Kukan said. “The shot from there is always dangerous.”

Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils and Pius Suter of the St. Louis Blues also scored for Switzerland, and 38-year-old national team goaltender Leonardo Genoni stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced.

Fiala, the Los Angeles Kings' second-leading scorer, had surgery to repair what the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation only called a lower left leg injury. He sent his teammates a video message from his hospital bed, and coach Patrick Fischer hopes Fiala is back at the athletes' village Monday.

“He’s still with us,” said Nico Hischer, who captains the Devils in the NHL. "We’ll play for him. And obviously you hate to see injury like that. He’s one of our best players, so it’s obviously a tough loss for us. But we know he’s still engaged with us, and he’ll cheer us on.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Czechia's Tomas Hertl (48) is challenged by Switzerland's Damien Riat (9) during a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Switzerland and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Switzerland players celebrate their victory after a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Switzerland and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Canada's Macklin Celebrini (17) scores on a penalty shot in the second period against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Macklin Celebrini (17) scores a goal on a penalty shot in the second period against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Canada's Mark Stone (61) celebrates after scoring a goal against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) and France's Jules Boscq (27) in the first period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — France inevitably racked up a record win against struggling Wales on Sunday and was the only unbeaten team in the Six Nations after two rounds.

Favored to win back-to-back titles, France scored eight tries, the first after just 88 seconds. The 54-12 scoreline eclipsed its previous high against Wales of 51-0 in 1998 at Wembley Stadium.

France didn't overpower Wales as it could easily have. Instead, France played sevens style, keeping the ball alive, offloading, stepping and slicing the Welsh apart. The loose and slippery nature of France's game — 28 line breaks — didn't allow Wales time to reset its defense.

The speed suited France's new and young centers, Pau clubmates Fabien Brau-Boirie, 20, and Émilien Gailleton, 22. They both touched down and Gailleton was replaced late by another debutant Noah Néné, 21. Flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert was the man of the match after scoring one try and assisting on three more.

Wales' Six Nations losing streak since 2022 was extended to 13 matches. The game attracted only 57,744 spectators, the smallest Wales home crowd since the tournament expanded in 2000.

Wales supporters wanting their side to work hard and fight to the end were rewarded, even though their team was outgunned everywhere. Wales kept France scoreless for more than 20 minutes in the first half and for the last 19 minutes of the match.

But the end result was familiar. Wales, yet to hire a full-time defense coach, has conceded 50-plus scores in five of its last six home matches, to England (68-14), Argentina (52-28), New Zealand (52-26) and South Africa (73-0).

“If you look at the athletes France have, if we kick a little too far or if there's an offload, they come alive,” Wales coach Steve Tandy told the BBC. "You have to tip your hat to France and where they are as a team.

“For us it's transitioning, we're not where we want to be. Ultimately we're at this point in our journey.”

France was on the board after 88 seconds and had the bonus-point fourth try by halftime.

Gailleton crossed first, set up by Antoine Dupont, Theo Atissogbe and Charles Ollivon.

Left wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey then took a kick-pass from Jalibert and notched his 12th Six Nations try in 11 matches.

Bielle-Biarrey's initial break led to Jalibert sending Brau-Boirie flying in and France was 19-0 up after 15 minutes.

Wales won the restart and prop Rhys Carre eventually crashed over but Wales couldn't hold out France before halftime when right wing Atissogbe put in Jalibert for 26-7.

The second half was a procession for France with four more tries in 17 minutes.

Hooker Julien Marchand scored from a lineout drive, Attisogbe bagged a pair thanks to Bielle-Biarrey and Jalibert, and Ollivon grabbed the last. Thomas Ramos had target practice and converted seven of the eight tries.

Captain Dupont was rested before the hour mark. France welcome Italy in Lille next weekend.

Wales had the last say through replacement back Mason Grady and stays at home to face Scotland. There were still nearly 7,000 tickets unsold for that game.

“It's our job to make people want to come and watch games," Wales captain Dewi Lake told the BBC. “We're a side that are not getting results but all we can ask is that people stick with us, come on the journey with us, because we're growing as a team.”

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

France's Louis Bielle-Biarrey scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Wales and France in Cardiff, Wales, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

France's Matthieu Jalibert, left, in action during the Six Nations rugby union match between Wales and France in Cardiff, Wales, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

France's Fabien Brau-Boirie scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Wales and France in Cardiff, Wales, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)