Bedard, Canada surge past U.S. in World Junior Championship semifinals
Score 6 consecutive goals, will face Czechia for gold medal Thursday
Bedard, a 17-year-old forward who is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, leads the tournament with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in six games.
Canada, which scored six straight goals after falling behind 2-0, is 31-3-3-9 with three ties in its past 49 games against the United States. The U.S. had won five of its past six WJC games against Canada.
"The U.S. is our big rival," said Canada forward Joshua Roy (Montreal Canadiens), who had two goals and two assists. "Everybody in the room was ready for that game. We didn't have the start we wanted, but we got back in the game."
Adam Fantilli (2023 draft eligible), Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings) and Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars) each had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Milic (2023 draft eligible) made 43 saves for Canada, which is 4-1-0-1 against the United States in the World Junior semifinals, losing 5-1 at the 2013 tournament.
"You have to give them credit, they played great," U.S. coach Rand Pecknold said of the defending champion. "Their goalie was the best player on the ice. He was excellent and that's part of hockey."
Milic made 15 saves in the second period, including one against Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues) from the slot at 6:44. He made 12 saves in the third period, including a sliding block against Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers) on a puck that bounced into the slot off the end boards at 3:51.
Canada seeks a second straight championship and its 20th overall when it plays Czechia in the gold-medal game here Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Czechia defeated Sweden 2-1 in overtime in the first semifinal Wednesday.
"It's obviously awesome," Bedard said. "Especially, to play the Czechs again. Obviously, the team that beat us (5-2 in the preliminary round on Dec. 26) ... it's exciting. That being said, we didn't come here to make to the finals, we came here to win the gold."
Canada can become the first team to win back-to-back championships since it won the last of five straight in 2009.
"That was an unbelievable moment, last year, to win it," Roy said. "I want to do it again this year: Win the gold medal. It's just incredible. We're going to do everything for it."
Trey Augustine (2023 draft eligible) made 31 saves for the United States, which will play Sweden in the bronze-medal game here Thursday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
"I mean, we just didn't pop sticks, and they got a couple of good chances and they buried them," U.S. captain Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) said.
Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead from the slot at 1:19 of the first period. Kenny Connors (Los Angeles Kings) pushed it to 2-0 on a rebound at the left post at 10:30.
Bedard started the comeback on a redirection at the right post to pull Canada within 2-1 at 11:49.
"It was a good timely goal," Canada coach Dennis Williams said. "We needed that to get us back off our heels. I think, for us, momentum shifts are big. You try to build off of shifts, and when he scored that, it definitely gave us a boost and the fans were excited. The energy in the arena just helped us get through that."
Clarke said, "It was a great play by Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Blackhawks) on the wall, and Connor got loose in the good ice, and that was definitely the boost we needed. From that point on, even though we didn't score another one in the first, we still had that momentum to carry into the intermission and then come out with a hot start in the second."
Stankoven tied it 2-2 at 47 seconds of the second period, scoring from the slot after a pass by Roy.
Adam Fantilli (2023 draft eligible) gave Canada a 3-2 lead at 5:46 of the second on a redirection from the slot.
Jackson Blake (Carolina Hurricanes) thought he had tied the game for the United States at 7:22 of the second, but Canada challenged for goaltender interference, and the goal was overturned upon review.
Roy made it 4-2 on a backhand inside the right post off a U.S. turnover at 12:20.
The United States had a second goal overturned 38 seconds into the third period when Rutger McGroarty was called for goaltender interference.
Clarke scored on a rebound from the high slot for a 5-2 lead at 9:45, and Roy scored into an empty net at 16:45 for the 6-2 final.
"There's a medal on the line Thursday]," Pecknold said. "As bad as they feel, as bad as the coaches feel, we have to reload. Sweden's a really good team, and [we**
