Whichever NHL team earns the right to select Connor Bedard in the 2023 NHL Draft is going to end up very, very happy.
The 17-year-old phenom continued his dominance on Day 7 of the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship, scoring Team Canada’s third goal against Team Finland in what would go down as a 6–3 win.
Bedard went bar-down past Finnish goaltender Leevi Meriläinen to make it 3–0 late in the first period.
Bedard also picked up an assist on Brennan Othmann’s goal early in the first period.
Through four games at the 2022 World Juniors, Bedard already has three goals and seven points. Only three players — Mason McTavish, Aatu Räty, and Joakim Kemell — rank ahead of him on the tournament scoring leaderboard.
Tyson Foerster, Ridly Greig, William Dufour, and McTavish also scored for Team Canada in Monday’s victory; Kemell, Samuel Helenius, and Roby Järventie tallied for the Finns.
Having gone undefeated in the group stage, Team Canada will take on Team Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. No. 2-seeded Team Finland will face Team Germany.
Ljungman stars for the Swedes
Team Sweden wrapped up its slate of preliminary round games on Monday with a solid 4–2 victory over Team Germany.
Dallas Stars prospect Daniel Ljungman led the way for the Swedes with a pair of goals in the win, although a last-second tally from German defender (and Edmonton Oilers draft pick) Luca Munzenberger took away Ljungman’s bid for the game-winning goal.
Nevertheless, Ljungman earned player of the game honors for his performance. Check out his impressive display of hand-eye coordination on his first goal of the contest:
The Stars selected Ljungman in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He spent most of the 2021–22 season with Linköping HC of the top-tier Swedish Hockey League, scoring two goals and an assist in 27 games.
Oskar Olausson and Oskar Magnusson also scored for Team Sweden in the win. The Swedes outshot the Germans 30–22 in the contest.
Day 7 Results
Team Switzerland 3, Team Austria 2
Team Canada 6, Team Finland 3
Team Sweden 4, Team Germany 2
Quarterfinal schedule (August 17)
Team Finland vs. Team Germany — 10:00 a.m. MT / 12:00 p.m. ET
Team Sweden vs. Team Latvia — 1:30 p.m. MT / 3:30 p.m. ET
Team Canada vs. Team Switzerland — 5:00 p.m. MT / 7:00 p.m. ET
Team USA vs. Team Czechia — 8:30 p.m. MT / 10:30 p.m. ET
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