HALIFAX Connor Bedard has launched a one-man assault on the world junior record book.
Bedard had three goals and four assists Wednesday to lead Canada to an 11-2 whitewashing of Germany in a bounceback game at the world junior championship.
Bedard tied the Canadian record for most points in a game and now has 21 points — 12 goals, nine assists — in just 11 world junior games. That’s two goals shy of Jordan Eberle’s all-time record, and 10 shy of Eric Lindros’ points record.
“He was on fire today,” said coach Dennis Williams. “His shot was unreal. And some really good screens by Brennan Othmann. But then his playmaking, the way he brought the puck up on one goal, and his creativity coming through the middle of the ice. His poise. He definitely had a great night. He led the way for us.”
And his offensive outburst came exactly one year after he scored four in game to tie the Canadian record in that category. That was against Austria, who just happens to be Thursday’s opponent.
“I was joking to him, he’s got seven points this game … I think I have six all combined this year,” said captain Shane Wright, who scored Canada’s second goal. “Just an unbelievable game. Pretty crazy what he’s doing out there. Some of the plays he’s making are special.”
Bedard’s skating is exquisite, his playmaking otherworldly, his shot akin to that of Auston Matthews. And he’s only 17, destined to be the top pick in the NHL draft this summer and become a franchise player.
“It’s cool,” Bedard said when talking about the various records in his sites. “There’s probably some pretty good names on that list. So that’s cool. But it’s not a huge deal for me. It’s good to get the win. I think I got a couple of pretty lucky ones. So it’s just one of those nights.”
Canadians with seven points in a game include Dave Andreychuk, Brenden Morrow, Mike Cammalleri and Gabriel Bourque.
For now, Bedard’s all about Team Canada, a team with a bruised ego after an opening loss to Czechia, and one that had something to prove Wednesday.
“We were pretty hungry to obviously bounce back,” said Bedard. “For us, that was a huge way to come back and get our first win.”
No hats
Winger Dylan Guenther was a leading voice after the loss to the Czechs about Canada’s over-reliance on its skill. He backed up his words with a hat trick as well and he scored the first goal and set the tone with steady play.
“Nothing to do with the score, but we played good for 60 minutes,” said Guenther. “That’s the way we have to play. That’s a step in the right direction.
“It’s great for us to be scoring grittier goals. We’re going to score nice goals, too, but I think just how we played throughout the whole game, we didn’t change our game based on how the score was. So I love that, I think that was awesome.”
But he completed his hat trick after Bedard completed his and no hats were thrown. Either the 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Centre had none left to throw or had stopped counting and didn’t know Guenther got his third.
“That’s funny,” said Guenther. “Some of the guys in the room didn’t know I’d scored three.”
Turning point
It’s not like the Germans were set up to be patsies. They’d held Sweden to one goal, losing 1-0, but didn’t even dress the goalie they used, Nikita Quapp. Instead it was Simon Wolf who — pardon the expression — got fed to the Canadian wolves, hungry for offence. He lasted two periods before being replaced by Rihards Babulus with the score already 9-1.
The turning point — if you can use that term in a blowout — occurred on a dangerous play. German defender Rayan Bettahar levelled Adam Fantilli and was ultimately ejected from the game. Fantilli was attended to but stayed in the game. Canada scored four times on the ensuing five-minute power play.
“That was a big moment in the game,” said Williams. “It’s unfortunate. I’m just happy that he (Fantilli) wasn’t really hurt and was able to come back from it right away. And I thought our guys respond the way we wanted to, not so much retaliation, but taking advantage of the five-minute power play and create some separation in the game.”
Goals galore
Joshua Roy, Brandt Clarke, Logan Stankoven and Zack Ostapchuk also scored as 12 skaters picked up points. Canada made no excuses for running up the score, since goal differential could become an important tiebreaker by the time the cross-over elimination games come around.
But Williams also wanted to see his players play the kind of game he’s been preaching. He didn’t see it in the opener, but he did see it Wednesday.
“We were much more determined,” said Williams. “I thought our puck management was better. We played tighter as a group. Our special teams were pretty strong, especially the power play. I thought we did a good job of managing pucks better at the blue line, making their defence turn, and bringing a physical presence.”
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