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 US had won five of its past six WJC games against Canada.
“The US is our big rival,” said Canadian 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,” US 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 pm 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 it 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 pm ET; NHLN, TSN).
“I mean, we just didn’t pop sticks, and they got a couple of good chances and they buried them,” US captain Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) said.
Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) gave the US 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 redirect 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 US 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] have to find a way to reset.”
Czechia 2, Sweden 1 (OT) — Jiri Kulich (Buffalo Sabres) scored with 50 seconds left in overtime, and Czechia advanced to the gold-medal game at Scotiabank Centre.
Kulich skated the puck down the right side, powered around Swedish forward Fabian Wagner (Winnipeg Jets) and scored over the blocker of Carl Lindbom (Vegas Golden Knights).
“I don’t remember how I scored,” Kulich said. “… It was like a dream.”
David Jiricek (Columbus Blue Jackets) scored for Czechia with 39 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Tomas Suchanek (2023 draft eligible) made 21 saves.
Czechia advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2001. It will play Canada, which defeated the United States 6-2 in the other semifinal.
“For me this tournament is absolutely everything,” Suchanek said. “I was dreaming about this as a child to be here, and to go to the gold medal game after 22 years, in our country it’s something incredible. It’s just amazing.”
Ludvig Jansson (Florida Panthers) scored for Sweden. Lindbom made 29 saves.
Sweden will play the United States for the bronze medal on Thursday.
“I want to have a bronze medal instead of being No. 4,” Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said. “So we’re going to have a team meeting during this next game tonight. Try to focus refocus on that game, that’s for sure.”
As for how to get his players refocused, Havelid said, “It’s two teams in the same position. I think [it’s] just about the mental part of it right now. So we need to help each other, the coaching staff and the players as well.”
On Jiricek’s goal, Czechia won a puck battle along the wall on the left side of the Sweden zone. Jiricek passed to defense partner David Spacek (Minnesota Wild), who sent it back to Jiricek, and his shot from the left face-off circle got past Lindbom.
Jansson scored at 1:39 of the second period. Noah Ostlund (Buffalo Sabres) passed back to Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks) at the right point. He passed across to Jansson, and his one-timer got past Suchanek.
It was Jansson’s fourth goal of the tournament, most among defensemen.
Relegation series
Latvia 4, Austria 2 — Dans Locmelis (Boston Bruins) and Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) scored, and Latvia swept the best-of-3 relegation series, ensuring it will return for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden.
The loss means Austria will play in the 2024 WJC Division I Group A tournament. It will be replaced in the 2024 WJC by Norway, which won the Division I Group A tournament Dec. 17.
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report
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