Canada beats Germany with 7-point Bedard game

Say what you will about Canada’s showmanship, they showed no signs of complacency in a 11-2 rout of Germany on Wednesday evening. Connor Bedard had three goals and a record seven points. Dylan Guenther also scored a hat-trick for Canada.

Here are three key takeaways from the grueling thrashing.

Connor Bedard is the best player in the tournament and it’s not even close

Connor Bedard, who was separated from Shane Wright (Brendan Othmann) and Shane Wright in order to start the game, began the contest with Joshua Roy & Logan Stankoven. Wright and Othmann reunited him on the power play. He submitted one the most impressive single-game performances at World Juniors. He tied the Canadian record of points in a single contest with seven.

Bedard drew a slashing penalty early in the first period when his acceleration caught Germany’s Julian Lutz off-guard and he was promptly hacked. To open the scoring, Bedard called the puck, faked a shot, and found Dylan Guenther wide open at the net.

Shane Wright quickly added a second goal, where Bedard’s gravity allowed Canada’s captain to bang away at the puck before it crossed the goal line, unimpeded.

Bedard’s straight-line speed was obvious to anyone who watched the game as he tormented Germany throughout the first period, ripping away from the defense when he collected a stretch pass from Logan Stankoven for a breakaway before roofing home Canada’s third goal.

We were at the center of our attention when we saw the Vancouver native’s laser-like expression. Monday’s blog And his dynamic playmaking skills were on full display again Wednesday evening. The 17-year-old found Guenther with a no look feed and wired it home. But again, Bedard’s best asset is his release, which was evident on his hat trick goal, where he was given too much space to operate and wired an expertly-placed wrist shot in the top corner.

Canada has only played two games, but we’re already running out of ways to describe Bedard. He’s going to destroy the record books and the worst teams in the NHL have to start their tank engines immediately, if they haven’t already!

Canada is not complacent about the Michigan debate.

Canada is not trying to make this tournament a glorified event.

“We need to learn from the past and move forward. Wright stated that the gold medal was not won tonight. . “We need to show more respect for our opponent. We must be prepared to fight in every match. We will get every team’s best, and every team wants Canada to lose.”

Bedard and Adam Fantilli both attempted the Michigan — a lacrosse-style goal that involves a player shoving the puck into the top corner — in the first period of Monday’s loss to Czechia. Although it was initially viewed as a sign that Canada had superior talent, it quickly became a referendum against showboating. Asking for players to stop attempting cool tricks on the ice goes against everything we want as hockey fans, especially in a round robin format where Canada won’t miss the quarterfinals barring unthinkable disaster.

Canada followed Wright’s lead. They were relentless in pushing Germany to its limits and threatened to raise the score to absurd levels during a second-period volley. However, the team’s defense and back-checking were well-oiled and the team can feel much better regarding its overall performance. Let Bedard and Fantilli attempt the Michigan, it’s not harming anyone; certainly not a Canadian juggernaut that can, but didn’t, operate on cruise control Wednesday.

Thomas Milic should still be Canada’s No. Moving forward, Canada’s No. 1 should be Thomas Milic

Thomas Milic would always get the start, even after Benjamin Gaudreau was recalled on Monday night. It’s now Milic’s job to lose. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but you can reasonably expect that he ought to be between the pipes for the foreseeable future.

Milic let in a soft goal early, as Roman Kechter’s wrist shot trickled through his pads, briefly tying the game at 1-1. It’s certainly one Milic wants to have back, and though he was relatively untested throughout the contest, he did enough to hold onto the starter’s job, making 10 saves.

Milic was able to hold Germany at bay, but his best save came in the second period when he crossed the crease to rob Phillipp Crenig. Canada maintained a 4-1 lead.

There’s plenty for Milic to play for outside of the tournament as well, as the 19-year-old remains undrafted by an NHL team. Wednesday’s performance wasn’t enough to convince an NHL team to take a chance on him, but the incentive is there for him to play the best hockey of his career. For now, he’s earned an extended look as Canada moved to 1-1.

Find out more about Sports