Bedard ties single-game goal record with 4, as Canada dominates Austria at world juniors
CBC
Canada's Connor Bedard became the youngest player to score four goals in a single world junior men's hockey championship game on Tuesday in Edmonton.
The 16-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., propelled Canada to an 11-2 win over Austria with his quadruple, which also tied the tournament's single-game scoring record.
Mason McTavish scored twice and had an assist and Cole Perfetti had a goal and two assists for the host country (2-0). Kent Johnson, Lukas Cormier, Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque also scored for the Canadians.
Eliot Desnoyers and Will Cuylle each assisted on three Bedard goals. Brett Brochu stopped 20 of 22 shots for the win in his first start of the tournament.
Lukas Necesany and Mathias Bohm scored for Austria (0-2) with beleaguered starter Leon Sommer making 53 saves in the loss.
Bedard joined Mario Lemieux (1983), Simon Gagne (1999), Brayden Schenn (2010), Taylor Raddysh (2016) and Maxime Comtois (2018) in the Canadian junior men's record books for the most goals scored in a single game.
WATCH | Bedard's big night propels Canada to rout of Austria:
Bedard was the seventh 16-year-old named to the national men's junior team in its 45-year history, joining players such as Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
No other 16-year-old produced four goals in a game, however. Gretzky scored a hat trick in 1977 against Czechoslovakia.
"It's definitely cool hearing your name and one of, if not the greatest to ever play," Bedard said. "It's one game and I don't think I'll be getting 2,800 points in the NHL. It's cool though to hear my name with his. It's good, but we've got a long way to go in this tournament."
Canada plays its second Pool A game in as many days Wednesday against Germany and concludes the preliminary round on New Year's Eve against the Finns.
That's if the men's under-20 tournament isn't further derailed by the COVID-19 virus. The Canada-Austria matchup was the only game played Tuesday.
The Swiss were awarded a 1-0 win under International Ice Hockey Federation rules. The IIHF has yet to determine if the U.S. can play Wednesday's Pool B game against Sweden in Red Deer, Alta.
The quarter-finals are Sunday followed by the Jan. 4 semifinals and Jan. 5 medal games in Edmonton.
