Canada became the first country to defeat Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax on Saturday. Led once again by Connor Bedard, the Maple Leaf won 5-1.
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Canada meets Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Sweden meets Finland.
After two crushing victories against much less fortunate opponents Germany and Austria, Dennis Williams’ men faced a much greater challenge in today’s clash.
However, a strong start to the game erased any doubt about the Canada team’s ability to triumph. With just 57 seconds on the clock, Bedard set the stage for the third goal of the tournament for Montreal youngster Joshua Roy.
Elias Pettersson did nothing to help his team by visiting the dungeon less than a minute later. Canada’s devastating massive attack quickly took advantage of this. Shane Wright served a brilliant snap to Brennan Othmann to double the Maple Leaf lead.
Bedard was not only an accomplice in this success, but also showed his great talent as a playmaker by collecting two more assists before the end of the duel. At the same time, he tied Eric Lindros with 17 for Canada’s top goalscorer in World Junior Championship history.
Another severe punishment
Sweden had a huge chance to close the gap midway through the first half when Zack Ostapchuk received a huge penalty for a knee kick.
Defender Ludvig Jansson made it 3-1 in this massive attacking situation.
Canada also offered Sweden double numerical superiority in the middle period, but they encountered a Thomas Milic who was in full possession of his means.
Othmann scored his second goal early in the third period. Defenders Tyson Hinds and Kevin Korchinski also threaded the needle to victory.
Elsewhere, Kirby Dach’s younger brother Colton left the game in the second half, visibly battered by a shoulder injury.