Connor Bedard Nets Magical OT Winner In Record-Breaking Night

With a single shot on Monday, Connor Bedard smashed three records, but that was just the beginning. The Regina Pats center broke the goal and point records for the nation by scoring at 6:07 of the opening frame of the world junior hockey championship in Halifax. He also surpassed Canada's previous mark for most points scored in a single competition. 

The 2023 NHL Draft phenom broke Jordan Eberle's World Junior Championship record of 14 goals after scoring the game's opening goal off a giveaway. In addition, Bedard exceeded the 18-point mark held by Dale McCourt in 1977 and Brayden Schenn in 2011 for the most points earned by a Canadian player in a single World Junior Championship. Bedard also beat Eric Lindros' record of 31 points, which he achieved between 1990 and 1992.

After Bedard assisted on Dylan Guenther's goal in the second period, Canada led 2-0. Thanks to the assist, Bedard now leads all Canadian players at a world junior tournament with 13 assists. Jason Allison established the previous benchmark in 1995 with a score of 12.

Bedard didn't stop there, though. After two periods, team Canada was up 3-2, but Slovakia simply wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring a goal in the third period (by Libor Nemec at 11:25) to force sudden-death overtime. From there, Bedard seized control.

Weaving his way through three Slovak defenders and beating Gajan with a backhand play, Bedard scored a stunning goal, advancing Canada to the semifinals and perhaps authoring his fantasy campaign's most stunning page. Bedard's game-winning goal will undoubtedly be replayed for years to come. 

After his three points in the game, Bedard now has 21 points in the 2022-23 competition alone. He ranks fourth all-time for single-tournament scoring and is tied with Robert Reichel for the best point total by a player in the past 30 years. Bedard needs three more points to surpass Markus Naslund and Raimo Helminen at No. 2, who both have 24 points. The holder of the single-tournament record is Peter Forsberg, with 31 points.

As Team Canada faces off against Team USA in the semifinal match, all attention will be on Bedard to see what other exciting feats he can achieve. It is clear that Bedard is the dominant force in his own world, and everyone else is just living within it.