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Connor Bedard missed one opponent.
And another one. And another one.
The breathtaking 17-year-old then calmly slotted the puck home to set off wild celebrations and send his country to the semi-finals of the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Bedard scored 5:17 into overtime with a brilliant, jaw-dropping individual effort on Monday as the tournament hosts beat Slovakia 4-3.
WATCH l Bedard earns OT win in historic performance:
In a historic night for the youngster, Connor Bedard scored in overtime to lead Canada to a 4-3 victory. Canada will face the United States in the semifinals.
The prodigious talent weaved his way past three Slovakians before blasting home his eighth goal of the event to blow the roof off the red-clad Scotiabank Center in Halifax.
“I always want the puck,” Bedard said. “It’s still hockey, I’m still out there doing what I love. It’s a big moment. But I’ve made the same move, I’ve made the same shot that I took a million times in my basement in practice, alone on the ice.
“I’m there to play hockey.”
On an absolutely amazing level.
“I’m kind of calling for it,” Canadian defenseman Brandt Clarke said of the highlight reel’s OT period. “But I see him burn the first guy, see him burn the second guy, see him burn the third guy and then go to the backhand of the goalie.
Bedard also scored early, setting four records in the process before adding an assist on Canada’s second goal to set a new national mark.
“It’s hard to describe what he means to our team,” said goalkeeper Thomas Milic, who made 24 saves, including a pair of huge stops to keep his team alive. “It’s almost like he’s pressing random buttons on an Xbox controller when he comes up with some of these hangs. You never know what he’s going to do next. He’s constantly surprising.”
“I think [Bedard’s]from another world,” said Slovakian captain Simon Nemec.
Dylan Guenther and Zack Ostapchuk provided the rest of the offense for the Canadians, who face the U.S. on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET after the Americans beat Germany 11-1 on Monday.
WATCH lBedard set 3 Canadian records with one goal:
With the goal in the first period against Slovakia, the 17-year-old phenom set the record for the most points in a Canadian career with 32, the most goals in a Canadian career with 15 and the most points in a single tournament by a Canadian with 19. .
Slovakia was answered by Libor Nemec with two and Robert Baco, who got 53 stops from Adam Gajan.
“Played a great game,” Simon Nemec said. “The best game of the tournament.”
The Czech Republic defeated Switzerland 9-1 to set up the second semifinal against Sweden on Wednesday at 2:30 PM ET. The Swedes defeated Finland 3-2 to open the game on Monday.
I thought it went in. I was going to start crying on the bench… I was so scared. Canadian forward Connor Bedard scored Slovakia’s goal late in regulation
After Simon Nemec’s penalty kick was cleared by Bedard’s crosscheck late in the third period, Shane Wright hit the crossbar in overtime with a shot that deflected off Gajan’s pad.
Milic then made a great glove stop on Servac Petrovsky to keep his team alive before Bedard added his name to Canada’s World Juniors.
Bedard, the presumed top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, opened the scoring just over six minutes into the first period after Slovakia defenseman Pavol Funtek turned the puck over.
That moved him past Eric Lindros of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats for the top spot on Canada’s all-time list with 34 points in the under-20 men’s competition.
The North Vancouver, BC, product has also passed Jordan Eberle for the most combined goals in World Juniors, which the Canadian has scored at 16.
Canada went up 2-0 on the power play after five minutes when Bedard found Othmann, who fed a falling Guenther.
“I want another gold medal”
Bedard set a new record for most points in a single tournament by a Canadian with 21, owns the national mark with 13 assists in a single event and passed Jaromir Jagr for most points by an 18-year-old.
“I’m not focused on personal success here,” said Bedard, who reached the podium with Canada in the summer. “I want another gold medal and that’s all I want.”
SEE lBedard among Canada’s greatest junior players of all time:
17-year-old Connor Bedard has made history as one of the best Canadian World Juniors players of all time, breaking several records in Monday’s match against Slovakia. The budding superstar is projected to be the first pick in next year’s NHL draft.
The Slovaks came off the mat and responded with their own power play as Nemec fell on a spot kick.
Canada restored their two-goal lead just over three minutes later when Ostapchuk fired past Gajan’s blocker for a 3-1 break.
But Slovakia got back within one when Peter Repcik showed great patience to find Bacon for the second.
Canada hit two posts early in the third period before Milic made an incredible stop in Adam Sykora’s mad scramble to fire into the pad before Canadian defender Tyson Hinds stopped the follow-up attempt with his gloves.
“Unbelievable atmosphere,” Milic said. “A bit of a rollercoaster.”
But Nemec scored the second goal of the game moments later less than nine minutes after Milic froze on goal. The situation was 3-3.
Bedard had a great chance to give Canada the lead late in the third period, but Funtek blocked his attempt.
In the end, however, the phenomenon would not be banned.
“That’s what he does,” Wright said. “Stepped up when he needed to. Big player, big game.”
And the Americans are next.
“What else is better? What else do you want?” Bedard said of the mouth-watering matchup. “Something that everybody in the country, everybody on the continent is going to be pretty excited about.
“There is no better situation.”
There is also no one better than Bedard.
SEE | Bedard excelled against Sweden and closed out the opening round:
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Bedard rewrites the Canadian record books with three assists in a 5-1 win.
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Sources 2/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/canada-slovakia-world-juniors-recap-jan-2-1.6701779 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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