Canada looking to build off ‘bounce back’ win at World Juniors

It was a humbling start to the 2023 World Junior Championship for Team Canada, losing 5-2 to Czechia for their first opening-game loss as a host country in tournament history.

Canada forward Dylan Guenther said his team needed to hit the reset button. And did they ever in their second game against Germany.

Boxing Day’s disappointment seemed like a distant memory as Canada steamrolled Germany 11-2 Wednesday night behind hat-tricks from both Connor Bedard and Dylan Guenther as well as a four-goal power play late in the second period. Canada improved to 1-0-01 to pull into third in Group A behind Czechia and Sweden. The Canadians will take on winless Austria Thursday in Halifax.

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Bedard also had four assists in Wednesday’s game, tying the Canadian World Juniors single-game record of seven points also held by Dave Andreychuk (1983), Brenden Morrow (1999), Mike Cammalleri (2002) and Gabriel Bourque (2010). Logan Stankoven and Brandt Clarke had three points apiece in the win.

“Some pretty cool names on that list, so, I mean, it’s definitely an honour. But in the end, it doesn’t mean too much,” the projected top pick in next year’s NHL Draft said.

"He was unbelievable. He was dialed in. You could tell there was a different air of focus around him after [Monday's] performance,” said Canada's head coach Dennis Williams.

"Not only was he finding the net but he was making plays out there as well."

Bedard now has 12 goals in his World Junior career and is tied for second on Canada’s all-time scoring list with Eric Lindros, John Tavares, and Jeff Carter. He sits two behind Jordan Eberle’s record of 14.

Ben Gaudreau allowed all five goals in the opener, prompting Williams to turn to Thomas Milic against Germany. In his first World Junior start, the Seattle Thunderbirds netminder stopped 14 of 16 shots as Canada improved to 16-0 all-time at the World Juniors against Germany.

"He made a real big save for us in the second. I thought he did a really nice job with his rebound control," said Williams. 

"It's really nice to see him get a win."

Germany’s starter Simon Wolf allowed nine of Canada’s 11 goals and was yanked after the second period Wednesday night.  

Canada attempted the ‘Michigan’ move twice early on in Monday’s loss, prompting a discussion about whether the failed lacrosse-style shot attempts meant the tournament favourites overlooked their Czech opponents.

"We have a lot of creative players," Clarke said on Monday. "We have a lot of guys with high skill, but in the first 10 minutes of the game, first period of the game, we were thinking, 'Hey, let's get a cute one here. Let's make the crowd happy.' But that's not how you win hockey games."

"We're not going to 'Michigan' our way to the finals," Guenther said.

But captain Shane Wright was more impressed with Canada’s focus Wednesday night, calling it a bounce back.

"We were expecting a bounce back game and that's exactly what we got," Wright said.

“I think just the response to last game… For us to come out here and play a well-rounded game was pretty huge for us,” Bedard said.

Austria enters Thursday’s matchup against Canada after two lopsided losses to Sweden and Slovakia. Their negative-20 goal differential is by far the worst of the tournament.

Still, Guenther cautioned against getting too comfortable ahead of a matchup they’ll be expected to win.

"When you get up like that [in Wednesday's game] it's easy to cheat. I thought we played the right way, in the third especially. That's a good sign and we just have to carry this into tomorrow," he said.