Canada's Dylan Guenther scores a first-period goal against Austria.
photo: Matt Zambonin / IIHF
Canada scored three goals in the first and skated to an impressive 11-0 win over Austria tonight in Halifax.
Along the way Connor Bedard scored twice, giving him 14 career U20 goals and tying Jordan Eberle for most by a Canadian. In all, he had two goals and four assists on the night, his six points coming just 24 hours after he put up seven against Germany. Logan Stankoven had a goal and three assists.
In the last 27 hours Canada has outscored their opponents 22-2 and scored 10 power-play goals. Bedard has been in on 13 of those 22 goals (five goals, eight assists) and now leads the tournament in goals (six), assists (eight), and points (14).
The win was the second in as many nights for the hosts while Austria lost for the third time here in Halifax by a cumulative score of 31-0. Canada will play Sweden on New Year’s Eve in a game that might decide first place in Group A. The Austrians and Germans play tomorrow afternoon to possibly decide which team will advance to the playoff round and which will be forced to duke it out in the relegation round.
With the loss tonight, Austria continued its record winless streak, which has now reached 30 games dating back to 1981.
"I thought we did a pretty good job in the defensive zone, but they're just a very skilled team," Austria's Canadian coach, Kirk Furey, noted. "Our guys need to take this positive. We're not looking at the score; we're looking at what we did in the game. Until we took a penalty after 15 minutes the shots were 3-1 for us."
"You don't want to get into bad habits, so that was the main focus for our group," said Canadian forward Zack Dean. "Sometimes if you do things the wrong way the other team gets some momentum, so we tried to stick with it the last couple of games."
Along the way Connor Bedard scored twice, giving him 14 career U20 goals and tying Jordan Eberle for most by a Canadian. In all, he had two goals and four assists on the night, his six points coming just 24 hours after he put up seven against Germany. Logan Stankoven had a goal and three assists.
In the last 27 hours Canada has outscored their opponents 22-2 and scored 10 power-play goals. Bedard has been in on 13 of those 22 goals (five goals, eight assists) and now leads the tournament in goals (six), assists (eight), and points (14).
The win was the second in as many nights for the hosts while Austria lost for the third time here in Halifax by a cumulative score of 31-0. Canada will play Sweden on New Year’s Eve in a game that might decide first place in Group A. The Austrians and Germans play tomorrow afternoon to possibly decide which team will advance to the playoff round and which will be forced to duke it out in the relegation round.
With the loss tonight, Austria continued its record winless streak, which has now reached 30 games dating back to 1981.
"I thought we did a pretty good job in the defensive zone, but they're just a very skilled team," Austria's Canadian coach, Kirk Furey, noted. "Our guys need to take this positive. We're not looking at the score; we're looking at what we did in the game. Until we took a penalty after 15 minutes the shots were 3-1 for us."
"You don't want to get into bad habits, so that was the main focus for our group," said Canadian forward Zack Dean. "Sometimes if you do things the wrong way the other team gets some momentum, so we tried to stick with it the last couple of games."
Austria vs Canada - 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship
AUT vs. CAN
Canada got off to a slow start, misfiring from all over the offensive end despite huge territorial advantage, but when they got a power play late in the first they were in their comfort zone. Dylan Guenther opened the scoring at 14:08 taking a gorgeous back pass between the legs from Brennan Othmann. It was Canada’s ninth goal with the man advantage (no other team has more than four).
Less than two minutes later, Canada doubled its lead when a Zach Dean shot went all the way through traffic. And they got a third goal on another power play, this thanks to a gorgeous feed from Bedard who spotted Shane Wright to the back side of the play at 18:19. It was Bedard’s second assist of the period and tournament best 10th point.
Canada was only just getting started, though. They made it 4-0 just 2:37 into the second thanks to a faceoff win in the offensive zone and a nice pass from Brandt Clarke to Joshua Roy on the doorstep. Just 31 seconds later, another goal. This one was pure genius. Bedard skated down the right wing looking in front, but just before he got to the icing line he threw a shot on goal that beat Oschgan high to the far side as the goalie was already on his knees. It was a spectacular shot that had the crowd oohing and awwing.
"What he's been doing, and the way he's been doing it, has been amazing, Adam Fantilli said. "I've seen him do that [shot] so many times. In Germany [at the 2022 U18], when we were on the penalty kill, he did the exact same shot off the back bar. He's pretty auto with that."
Nolan Allan Made it 6-0 off a screen shot that snuck through Oshgan’s equipment, at 5:35, and they added another later in the period on a play that was originally called no goal but overturned by video review. Logan Stankoven got credit for that one, on a scramble, assist to Bedard.
In the third it was Fantilli making it 8-0 on a shot in the slot at 2:15, his first, and long-awaited goal, of the tournament.
"It feels really good," he enthused. "I was waiting for that one, and happy everybody got to chip in. Everybody's smiling. I've been working really hard, trying to play the right way, so I'm happy one of the shots fell."
Midway through Nathan Gaucher converted a close-in pass from Colton Dach. Bedard got another off a diving redirect from the crease, tying Eberle in the process. Tyson Hinds added to the total finding the net on a scramble.
Less than two minutes later, Canada doubled its lead when a Zach Dean shot went all the way through traffic. And they got a third goal on another power play, this thanks to a gorgeous feed from Bedard who spotted Shane Wright to the back side of the play at 18:19. It was Bedard’s second assist of the period and tournament best 10th point.
Canada was only just getting started, though. They made it 4-0 just 2:37 into the second thanks to a faceoff win in the offensive zone and a nice pass from Brandt Clarke to Joshua Roy on the doorstep. Just 31 seconds later, another goal. This one was pure genius. Bedard skated down the right wing looking in front, but just before he got to the icing line he threw a shot on goal that beat Oschgan high to the far side as the goalie was already on his knees. It was a spectacular shot that had the crowd oohing and awwing.
"What he's been doing, and the way he's been doing it, has been amazing, Adam Fantilli said. "I've seen him do that [shot] so many times. In Germany [at the 2022 U18], when we were on the penalty kill, he did the exact same shot off the back bar. He's pretty auto with that."
Nolan Allan Made it 6-0 off a screen shot that snuck through Oshgan’s equipment, at 5:35, and they added another later in the period on a play that was originally called no goal but overturned by video review. Logan Stankoven got credit for that one, on a scramble, assist to Bedard.
In the third it was Fantilli making it 8-0 on a shot in the slot at 2:15, his first, and long-awaited goal, of the tournament.
"It feels really good," he enthused. "I was waiting for that one, and happy everybody got to chip in. Everybody's smiling. I've been working really hard, trying to play the right way, so I'm happy one of the shots fell."
Midway through Nathan Gaucher converted a close-in pass from Colton Dach. Bedard got another off a diving redirect from the crease, tying Eberle in the process. Tyson Hinds added to the total finding the net on a scramble.
Austria vs Canada - 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship
OF