Connor Bedard scores goal of the tournament in overtime to send Canada to the semi-finals
The fourth quarter-final of Day 7 at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship saw the hosts, Canada, take on the third seed in Group B, Slovakia, who are headlined by Simon Nemec, Filip Mesar and Dalibor Dvorsky.
It was a rough first period, with scrums after nearly every single whistle. Team Canada opened the scoring and it was none other than 17-year-old Connor Bedard.
Dallas Stars prospect Logan Stankoven forced a turnover at the Slovak blue line and quickly found Connor Bedard, who was in all alone and fired it past the glove of Adam Gajan to make it 1-0 Canada.
CONNOR BEDARD SETS A NEW CANADIAN RECORD FOR MOST GOALS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS! pic.twitter.com/CJwpYmJdvW— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2023
With his goal, Bedard broke three Canadian World Junior records, which are listed below.
- Most points all-time by a Canadian in World Junior history: 32
- Most goals all-time by a Canadian in World Junior history: 15
- Most points in a single tournament by a Canadian in World Junior history: 19
🇨🇦 Connor Bedard:
🏒 Most goals by 🇨🇦 at #WorldJuniors 15
🏒 Most points by 🇨🇦 at #WorldJuniors 32
🏒 Most points by 🇨🇦 at single #WorldJuniors 19— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 2, 2023
The Slovaks fought back in the second period, despite being outplayed for the majority of the 20 minutes. At the end of the middle frame, Canada led by 3-2.
Just over five minutes into the second, Canada scored their second of the night, this time on the powerplay. Connor Bedard found Brennan Othmann down low, beside the Slovak net, then passes it cross-crease to Dylan Guenther to make it 2-0 Canada. With his assist, Connor Bedard now has 20 points in the tournament.
DYLAN GUENTHER ON THE POWER PLAY!
Canada leads Slovakia 2-0 in the 2nd.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/EYyYOmChks— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
Nearly two minutes later, also while on the powerplay, Slovakia scored their first of the game to cut Canada's lead to just one. New Jersey Devils prospect Simon Nemec threw the puck on net from the point where it redirects off Libor Nemec (no relation) and past Thomas Milic.
Simon Nemec cuts Canada's lead in half 3 seconds into the power play! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/VJgZQQx3kE— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
Canada restored their two-goal lead a couple of minutes later. After a turnover, Canada took the puck down the ice for a 3-on-1 where Ottawa Senators prospect Zack Ostapchuk places the puck perfectly past Gajan's blocker to make it 3-1.
Zack Ostapchuk answers back for Canada! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/dKZOyv02Ss— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
The Slovaks weren't done and brought the game within one, once again. While on the odd-man rush, Peter Repcik opts to take the puck behind the net and then finds a wide-open Robert Baco, who roofs the puck over Thomas Milic to give his team a second goal in the game.
Robert Baco puts Slovakia back within 1! 🇸🇰#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/4ZkfOwIFTB— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
The third period was fairly quiet, until Slovakia tied things up just over half-way through, silencing the crowd in Halifax. Libor Nemec potted his second of the night on a beautiful feed from Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar. 3-3.
SLOVAKIA TIES IT UP!
Libor Nemec makes it a 3-3 game in the 3rd. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/9kCGE0FPUf— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
The game then headed for overtime and in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and bronze medal game, the IIHF rules are 3-on-3 for ten minutes, followed by a shootout, if necessary.
Canada began overtime on the powerplay, but couldn't find a way to get one past Adam Gajan, who stood on his head all game long. Once the team's went to 3-on-3, they exchanged chances, but it was Connor Bedard who played hero for Canada, scoring the goal of the tournament.
Bedard picked up the puck off the board after failed clearance by Slovakia. Instead of shooting, Bedard walked through two Slovak players, then deked around Gajan, sliding the puck in and sending Canada to the semi-finals at the 2023 World Juniors.
CONNOR BEDARD SENDS CANADA TO THE SEMIS! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/4s06UDY6oX— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2023
With the quarter-finals now over, the remaining teams are re-seeded based on their overall standings from the preliminary round. Here are the matchups for semi-final Wednesday:
(1) Czechia vs (4) Sweden - 2:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. local.
(2) United States vs (3) Canada - 6:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. local.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Guenther | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Kesselring | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Tanev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Tavares | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Simon Benoit | - | - | - | |
| Nick Bjugstad | - | - | - | |
| Michael Carcone | - | - | - | |
| Ian Cole | - | - | - | |
| Lawson Crouse | - | - | - | |
| Connor Dewar | - | - | - | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | - | - | - | |
| Barrett Hayton | - | - | - | |
| Pontus Holmberg | - | - | - | |
| Clayton Keller | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||