Timo Meier against France at Milan (Via Getty Images) Timo Meier made his Olympic debut one to remember. The New Jersey Devils forward scored twice and finished plus-3 as Switzerland cruised past France 4-0 in their Group A opener at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Thursday. It was a dominant performance from the Swiss, who outshot France 40-26 and never let the game become competitive. Meier stayed quiet through the first two periods as Switzerland built a 2-0 lead, but he came alive in the third.
Switzerland didn’t let France had control for even one moment
Already 2-0 by the start of the third period, at 10:08, captain Roman Josi circled behind the French net and fed Meier in front for an easy tap-in that extended the lead to 3-0. He added his second at 16:13, ripping a shot from the left circle that beat Antoine Keller through the pads.”It was a great team effort,” the Swiss forward group showed, with Meier’s four shots on goal leading the way offensively. Between the pipes, 38-year-old Leonardo Genoni was impenetrable. His 26-save shutout made him the oldest goalie in the NHL/Olympic era to record a shutout at the Games.Genoni enters Milan with a championship pedigree. He backstopped Switzerland to silver medals at the past two IIHF World Championships and was named MVP of the 2025 tournament after going 5-0-2 with a 0.99 goals-against average, a .953 save percentage, and four shutouts in seven games.Switzerland wasted no time establishing control. Damien Riat opened the scoring just 55 seconds into the game with a power-play goal, burying a rebound off Sven Andrighetto’s initial shot. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser made it 2-0 at 3:06 of the first period with a wrist shot from the left circle.France, playing in its first Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, struggled to generate quality chances. Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier, the lone NHL player on the French roster, was held pointless. Keller made 36 saves in the losing effort, and France went 0-for-4 on the power play.Both teams return to action Friday. Switzerland faces a significant step up in competition against Canada at 3:10 PM ET, while France looks to rebound against Czechia at 10:40 AM ET. France will hope to get back a win in their next game while they watch tonight’s game to pick their next opponents’ weaknesses.