Connor Bedard did not disappoint as Canada dropped Latvia 5-2 in their first game of the restarted world juniors after the tournament was shut down last December over COVID-19 concerns.
The WHL star notched a goal and an assist with a team-high eight shots in the outing, while Canada’s player of the game, Ridley Grieg, also tallied a goal and an assist.
Despite the score and the dramatic advantage in shots on goal, Canada looked fairly pedestrian during extended stretches, while Latvia proved to be tough sledding early on behind strong goaltending. At one point, Latvia even briefly managed to pull even after falling behind, a first for the nation in matchups against Canada.