MONTREAL — Defenceman Madison Bowey is doing whatever he can to help Canada at both ends of the ice rink.

Bowey has been a reliable player both offensively and defensively for the Canadians through three games of the world junior championship. The 19-year-old hopes that trend continues when Canada takes on the United States in the final preliminary game for both teams on Wednesday night at the Bell Cent re.

"First and foremost, I want to be solid in the defensive end," said Bowey after practice on Tuesday. "That's the main goal. But if I can chip in offensively, I'll try to do that the best I can. If I get a lucky bounce, and get a few points, that's awesome, and I'm just going to try to keep doing what I'm doing."

Bowey is a big-bodied defenceman — he's six-foot-one and weighs 195 pounds — who was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the second round of last year's entry draft. He makes good decisions with the puck, isn't afraid to finish a hit and is fast on his skates.

The two-way defenceman plays his junior hockey with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. In 259 regular-season and playoff games with Kelowna, Bowey has amassed 55 goals and 164 points.

And three games into Canada's current quest for gold, he has a tournament-high plus-7 rating, and he leads all Canadian defencemen with three points, including a pretty goal against Germany on Saturday. With the Canadians on the power play up 3-0 late in that game, Bowey crept from the blue-line towards the German net, waited patiently for the puck and fired home the insurance goal.

"It felt really good," Bowey said. "It's a pretty high-end tournament, and to score a goal in it is pretty special for myself. If I can help the team win in any way I can, that's my main goal and that's what I'm going to try to stick to."

This isn't the first time the Winnipeg-born blue-liner is on the hunt for silverware while wearing Canada's sweater. Bowey helped Canada to hockey gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Slovakia in 2012, and again at the U18 world championship in Russia in 2013, where he scored the game-tying goal in the final against the Americans.

Bowey is making his mark on this year's world juniors after narrowly missing out in 2013. He took part in Canada's selection camp last year, but was sent home after missing the cut. He says the last 12 months have been paramount in his development as a player.

"I've improved a lot at both ends of the ice," he said. "I'm really calm with the puck now, and I've had a lot of confidence with it. Playing defensively, I can really compete against other teams' top lines and other teams' top players. That's what I'm trying to do right now, and it's going well."

Bowey's biggest test to date will likely come on Wednesday when he and defensive pairing Josh Morrissey — also a Kelowna Rocket — will try to shut down Jack Eichel and the Americans.

Canada leads Group A with a perfect nine points through three games. The Americans are just one point back as they needed a shootout for one of their victories. The winner of Wednesday's contest will finish top of the group.

"That game is going to be huge," said Bowey, the only right-handed shot on Canada's defence. "That's what we all circled on our calendars for a while now."

Bowey and Morrissey, a prospect for the Winnipeg Jets, have formed Canada's second defensive pairing since the start of the tournament, and they have been solid from the get-go.

"Madison and I have become pretty good friends over the last few years," said Morrissey, who was traded to Kelowna earlier this month. "He's a great player. He has a bit of everything - he's fast, he can skate, he has a great one-timer. It's a lot of fun playing together. We've only been getting better as a pair."

Added Bowey: "Our chemistry is growing every day. Him and I are really good buddies off the ice, which goes a long way on the ice. We keep improving every day and that's awesome to see. We try to help each other out as much as we can."

Bowey and Morrissey are expected to see a lot of draft phenom Eichel, who leads the United States with 14 shots on target through three games, though he has scored just once. The Canadian defencemen are well aware of just how dangerous the 18-year-old can be.

"Every top line, we have to know who we're going up against," said Bowey. "Being defencemen, we have to know what their weakness is and what their strengths are. Obviously, Eichel is a guy who has a lot of strengths, so we have to make sure we contain him well. He's a big part of their team."