BEDARD SETS UP TWO, CANADA ROUTS SLOVAKIA 6-1

MONCTON, N.B. – As the world junior championship approaches, Canada continued to look impressive in pre-tournament play with a 6-1 win over Slovakia on Wednesday at the Avenir Centre.

Joshua Roy, with one goal and one assist, Colton Dach, Brandt Clarke, Zach Dean, Brennan Othmann and Dylan Guenther all scored for Canada.

Connor Bedard and Shane Wright each had two assists and Benjamin Gaudreau stopped 16 shots.

“I thought we played better tonight and were able to improve on a few areas. We were sharper with our decision-making, but there are still some kinks to work out ahead of the tournament,” Wright said.

“That is expected when you come together in these events, everyone is trying to adjust to new systems and playing with different players, but I think we took some steps forward today and we are going to keep improving every game.”

Samuel Honzek scored Slovakia’s lone goal, while Patrik Andrisik had 41 saves.

Canada went 2-for-6 on the power play, with Slovakia going 0-for-5. The Canadians outshot their opponents 47-17.

“We managed the puck better tonight, but we were a little loose at times,” said Canada head coach Dennis Williams. “We did not have a strong first period, but we were able to reset for the second and we came out and played a much harder and Canadian style.”

“We had a lot more chances in the second and third periods, and we probably could have scored a few more goals if not for (their) goalie.”

Up 3-0 entering the third period, Othmann stretched the lead 37 seconds into the frame with a power-play marker. Roy scored six seconds later.

Honzek halted Gaudreau’s shutout bid at 2:24 of the period. But that was as close as Slovakia would get.

Guenther made it 6-1 with a power-play goal 10:43 into the frame.

Clarke put Canada up 2-0 at 7:03 of the second. Dean quickly followed up with another goal 21 seconds later.

Canada outshot Slovakia 23-1 in a drastic turnaround from the 12-7 margin the Canadians held after the opening frame.

Dach opened the scoring 6:20 into the first period.

Canada was coming off a 6-0 win over Switzerland on Monday. Canada closes out its exhibition schedule against Finland on Friday before suiting up for its first contest of the world juniors on Dec. 26 against Czechia in Halifax.

(Canadian Press/Photo: Hockey Canada)