Connor Bedard Canada Sweden Junior WC summary
Canada defeated Sweden 5-1 on the final day of the preliminary round at the Junior World Championships in Halifax on Saturday.
Canada finished second in Group A and will face Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Connor Bedard registered four assists and now has six goals and 12 helpers in the tournament.
Bedard tied Eric Lindros for the all-time Canadian World Junior scoring record with 31 and also tied Dale McCourt (1977) and Brayden Schenn (2011) for the Canadian singles tournament record with 18 points.
The 17-year-old was not even aware that he had matched the long-standing mark.
“That was news to me,” Bedard said after the game. “Having my name in the same sentence as his is crazy.”
Brennan Othmann extended Canada’s lead with his second goal of the game 35 seconds into the third period. Kevin Korchinski then finished the scoring with his first goal of the tournament.
Othmann had nothing but praise for Bedard after the victory over Sweden.
“His confidence level, it’s just through the roof right now,” Othmann said. “That’s the key to this game, confidence, having a positive mindset. He’s so easy-going. He takes everything in his stride and he’s an outstanding hockey player.
Sweden had a chance to cut into a two-goal deficit in the second period, but couldn’t capitalize on a two-man advantage at 53 seconds. Both teams were held off the board in the middle frame.
Canada jumped out to an early lead with first period goals from Joshua Roy, Othmann and Tyson Hinds.
Roy opened the scoring 57 seconds into the game, followed by Othmann on a power play at the 2:08 mark and Hinds just past the halfway mark in the opening frame.
Thomas Milic got the start in net for Canada. Sweden countered with Carl Lindbom.
Canadian head coach Dennis Williams was pleased with the performance of his netminder on Saturday.
“He made a ton of big saves for us,” Williams said. “Sometimes they go unnoticed, but his rebound control was perfect and he never gave up a second or third chance, so it was great to see.”
Canadian center Zack Ostapchuk received a five-minute penalty and foul for kneeling in the first period. Ludvig Jansson found the net for Sweden on the ensuing power play.