Bedard shines as Canada tops Sweden, finishes second in group at WJC
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Canada defeated Sweden 5-1 on the final day of the preliminary round at the World Junior Championship in Halifax on Saturday.
Canada finished second in Group A and will face Slovakia in the quarter-finals 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 points record at the World Junior Championship with 31 and also pulled even with Dale McCourt (1977) and Brayden Schenn (2011) for the Canadian single-tournament record with 18 points.
The 17-year-old was not even aware that he had matched the long-standing mark.
"It was news to me," Bedard said after the game. "To have my name in the same sentence as him is crazy."
Brennan Othmann extended Canada’s lead with his second goal of the game 35 seconds into the third period. Kevin Korchinski then capped off the scoring with his first goal of the tournament.
Othmann had nothing but praise for Bedard following the victory over Sweden.
"His confidence level, it's just through the roof right now," said Othmann. "That's the key of this game, confidence, having a positive mindset. He's so easygoing. He takes everything at ease, and he's an outstanding hockey player.
Sweden had a chance to cut into a two-goal deficit in the second period, but were not able to capitalize on a two-man advantage for 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 of 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 play of his netminder on Saturday.
"He made a ton of big saves for us," said Williams. "Sometimes those go unnoticed, but his rebound control was spot on and he never gave up a second or third chance, so it was great to see."
Canadian centre Zack Ostapchuk was assessed a five-minute penalty and game misconduct for kneeing in the first period. Ludvig Jansson found the net for Sweden on the ensuing power play.