Connor Bedard and Dylan Guenther each scored a hat trick as Canada rallied from an early deficit to defeat 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 Junior game, along with 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 honor,” Bedard said of tying the points record. “But in the end, it doesn’t mean too much. “I’m playing with some really big players so they made it really easy for me tonight and obviously some pretty lucky bounces for me. So I guess it was just a of those nights.”
Canada entered the second period with a two-goal lead, but exploded for six goals in the second period with Bedard scoring his second of the game a minute into the period, completing the hat trick at 13:58 of the period to give Canada a win. 5-1 advantage.
“It was unbelievable. It was marked. You could tell there was a different air of focus around him afterwards [Monday’s] performance said Canada head coach Dennis Williams. “He wasn’t just finding the net, he was making plays out there.” Germany’s Rayan Bettahar was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for an illegal check on the head of Adam Fantilli at 15:49 of the second and Canada would. scores four goals in the next five minutes on the power play to take a 9-1 lead.
Guenther scored a pair of goals on the power play, firing a pair of one-timers off 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 in overtime, contributing to Canada’s eight-goal lead in the second period explosion. Stankoven finished the game with three points.
“We played 60 minutes,” Guenther said of his team’s performance. “When you get up like that it’s easy to cheat. I thought we played the right way, especially in the third. That’s a good sign and we’ll just have to carry it over to tomorrow.”
“The crowds here have been amazing,” Guenther added of the home crowd in Halifax. “It’s a big help, especially if we go through stretches where we don’t play as well. It really helps build momentum and it’s a lot of fun to play as well.”
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 hoping for a comeback game and that’s exactly what we got,” Canadian captain Shane Wright said.
“These games can be tough when you lose,” Bedard said of the comeback performance. “For us to come out here and play a complete game was huge for us.”
Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy scored his first goal of the tournament, off Bedard’s fourth assist of the night, midway through the third period to give Canada an 11-1 lead.
Canadian defenseman Olen Zellweger added three assists in the win.
Roman Kechter scored Germany’s first goal midway through the first half and Philip Sinn added the second with just over five minutes left in the third.
Thomas Milic started for Canada after Benjamin Gaudreau was pulled after allowing five goals on 17 shots against the Czech Republic. He stopped 14 shots in his first junior world start.
“He made a big save for us in the second. I thought he did a really good job with his rebound control,” Williams said. “It’s really nice to see him win.”
German goaltender Simon Wolf made 30 saves before being relieved by Rihards Babulis to start the third period. Made 11 saves in relief.
Canada head coach Dennis Williams shook up Canada’s line before Wednesday’s game by moving Bedard to the second line to play alongside Joshua Roy and Logan Stankoven. Guenther moved up to the front line with Shane Wright and Brennan Othmann.
Canada outshot Germany 52-16 in the game and finished the game with seven power play goals in 10 chances.
“It’s important that the power play is playing well,” Guenther said. “We’ve got 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 after an impressive 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic in their opener on Monday.
Canada’s next game is against Austria on Thursday. Germany will look for their first win of the tournament on Friday against Austria.