Bedard ties Canadian record in rout of Germany at WJC
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Connor Bedard and Dylan Guenther each scored a hat trick as Canada bounced back from an opening game loss to rout Germany 11-2 on Wednesday at the World Junior Championships. Bedard finished the game with seven points, tying the Canadian record for most points in a single world juniors game, alongside Dave Andreychuk, Brenden Morrow, Mike Cammalleri and Gabriel Bourque.
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.
“Some pretty cool names on that list, so, I mean, it’s definitely an honour," Bedard said of tying the points record. "But in the end, it doesn’t mean too much. “I’m playing with some pretty great players, so they made it pretty easy on me tonight and obviously some pretty lucky bounces for myself. So I guess it was just one of those nights.”
Canada entered the second period with a two-goal lead but exploded for six goals in the second period with Bedard potting his second of the game one minute into the period, and completing the hat trick at 13:58 of the period to give Canada a 5-1 lead.
"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."Germany's Rayan Bettahar was given a major penalty and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head of Adam Fantilli at 15:49 of the second and Canada would score four goals on the ensuing five minute power play to take a 9-1 lead.
Guenther scored a pair of goals during the power play, firing a pair of one-timers from Bedard to complete his own hat trick and give Bedard six points on the night. Brandt Clarke and Logan Stankoven each scored their first goals of the tournament during the major penalty, contributing to Canada's eight-goal lead in the second period explosion. Stankoven finished the game with three points.
"We played for 60 minutes," Guenther said about his teams performance. "When you get up like that 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."
"The crowds here have been unbelievable," Guenther added about the home crowd in Halifax. "It's a huge help, especially if we go through spans where we're not playing as well. It really helps us create momentum and it's a lot of fun to play in there too."
Guenther opened the scoring in the first period, firing what would be the first of his three power play goals on the night. Wright added a first-period marker, his second of the tournament, while Zack Ostapchuk scored Canada’s 10th goal of the night early in the third.
"We were expecting a bounce back game and that's exactly what we got," said Canadian captain Shane Wright.
“Those games can be tough when you lose," Bedard said of the bounce-back performance. "For us to come out here and play a well-rounded game was pretty huge for us.”
Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy scored his first of the tournament, on Bedard's fourth assist of the night, midway through the third period to give Canada an 11-1 lead.
Canadian defenceman Olen Zellweger added three assists in the victory.
Roman Kechter scored Germany’s first goal midway through the first period and Philip Sinn added the second with just over five minutes remaining in the third.
Thomas Milic got the start for Canada after Benjamin Gaudreau was pulled after allowing five goals on 17 shots against Czechia. He stopped 14 shots in his first world juniors start.
"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."
German goaltender Simon Wolf made 30 saves before being relieved by Rihards Babulis to start the third period. He made 11 saves in relief.
Canada's head coach Dennis Williams shook up Canada's line prior to Wednesday's game moving Bedard to the second line to play alongside Joshua Roy and Logan Stankoven. Guenther moved up to the first line with Shane Wright and Brennan Othmann.
Canada outshot Germany 52-16 in the contest and finished the game with seven power play goals on 10 opportunities.
"It's important for the power play to be playing well," said Guenther. "We have good players on both units so it's a good sign that we're producing when it matters."
Canada improves to 1-0-0-1 following a stunning 5-2 loss to Czechia in their opening game on Monday.
Canada’s next game will be against Austria on Thursday. Germany will look for their first win of the tournament on Friday against Austria.