Connor Bedard ties team goal record as Canada lights up Austria at world juniors
Canada will have a shot to win the group after beating Austria 11-0 on Thursday.
With the win, Canada sits third in Group A, but one point behind Czechia and two points behind Sweden. A Czech regulation win will give them 10 points, with the result of Canada/Sweden helping to finalize the other two spots in the top three.
Once again, Connor Bedard was the star of the show. After tying a team record with seven points against Germany, he scored two goals and four assists to give him 14 points in three games. His second goal gave him 14 all-time in 12 games, tying him with Jordan Eberle for the team goal-scoring record.
Bedard has 27 points all-time at the tournament, putting him four behind Eric Lindros for the team lead.
Canada started off slow, but once they finally found a way to break past goaltender Benedikt Oschgan, everything went their way. It all started on the power play at 14:08 when Connor Bedard found Brennan Othmann near the net, who promptly passed the puck between his legs. Dylan Guenther then fired home a one-timer to break the ice after a slow start.
A minute later, Zach Dean scored his first of the tournament, only for Bedard to set up Shane Wright on Canada’s third goal – another on the man advantage – at 18:19.
Everything started to fall apart for Austria in the third. Joshua Roy scored 2:37 into the second, and Bedard scored on the very next shift with a snipe that had to be reviewed given how quickly it went in and out. Nolan Allan then scored his first WJC goal two minutes later to make it 6-0.
With just over five minutes left in the second, Canada needed another review for a goal to count. At 34:32, Logan Stankoven knocked the puck over top of Austrian netminder Benedikt Oschgan and in, but it was originally ruled no goal and the play continued for another minute. After an Austrian player flipped the puck over the glass, the play was reviewed and ultimately ruled a good goal, making it 7-0.
Canada didn’t need any other goals, but some extra insurance in the case of goal differential mattering in a tiebreaker situation didn’t hurt. Adam Fantilli’s first goal of the tournament came at 42:15, with Nathan Gaucher getting his own first goal nine minutes later.
But the real highlight was at 53:16 when Bedard’s second of the night tied the Canadian team record, doing so with up to four more games left on the schedule. Tyson Hinds also scored his first of the tournament to close it off, giving Stankoven his fourth point of the night in the process.