Canada Triumphant Against Austria

We have had lots of unpredictable results happen at the World Juniors so far. Czechia defeated Canada 5-2, Slovakia took down the USA 6-3 and Switzerland got a massive 3-2 overtime win versus Finland. Luckily for Team Canada, they did not add their name to that list, again, after a dominating performance against the Austrians.

It has been a tough tournament for Austrian, so far, losing 11-0 to Sweden and then 9-0 to Czechia. Well, it did not get any prettier for them allowing 11 more against Canada in their third game.

To nobody’s shock, Connor Bedard led the way for Canada. The future NHL superstar sniped home another two goals and added four assists for a six-point night. In three games, Bedard has six goals and eight assists for 14 points. With his two goals against Austria, the Regina Pats forward have now matched Jordan Eberle’s record of 14 goals at the World Juniors for Canada.

While Bedard did a lot of the work for Canada, he was not the only player to contribute big to the boxscore. Logan Stankoven picked up a goal and three assists to take his total to seven, Joshua Roy and Nathan Gaucher each had three points and Adam Fantilli – another 2023 NHL Draft prospect – grabbed two points for himself.

The Canadians excelled defensively, only allowing 12 shots on goal. Benjamin Gaudreau stopped all 12 of those shots for his first shutout of the tournament. Austria is not exactly a powerhouse but for Gaudreau to come away with no goals allowed could prove to be big for him after what happened against Czechia.

After that performance against Czechia, Gaudreau revealed that former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton had reached out. He said that Hutton gave him some strategies for regrouping mentally. Gaudreau also told the media that he and Hutton had never met or spoken before. A pretty cool moment and whatever Hutton told him clearly had a positive effect.

Finally, Edmonton Oilers 2022 first rounder, Reid Schaefer picked up his first World Juniors point in the 11-0 win. He got an assist on Nolan Allen’s goal, which gave Canada a 6-0 lead in the second period.

Next, the task gets a little more difficult for the Canadians. They will face Sweden on New Year’s Eve, which could determine who finishes first in the group. Canada would need Czechia to lose for that to happen, but if not, they can still finish second in Group A. It is a crucial game for Canada if they want to avoid playing either Finland or the USA in the next round.