Bedard sparks Team Canada

PRAGUE -- Connor Bedard scored twice again and added an assist as Canada eased past Denmark 5-1 Sunday for its second straight victory at the world hockey world championship.

Dylan Cozens, Dawson Mercer and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for Canada, and Jordan Binnington stopped 19 shots in the Group A game.

Cenre John Tavares recorded an assist as he joined the team for the first time after the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup.

Canada next plays in preliminary round action today against Austria at 11:20 a.m. PDT (TSN).

Bedard also scored two in Canada’s 4-2 win over Britain on Saturday in their tournament’s opening game.

The 18-year-old Bedard opened the scoring 2:24 into Sunday’s game with a shot from the blue line that went through traffic in front of the goal.

Cozens doubled the advantage in the opening period by wristing the shot into the roof of the net on a power play. Bedar added his second early in the final period with a one-timer from close range.

Mercer added the fourth for Canada into an empty net as Denmark pulled goaltender Frederik Dichow with two minutes left and Dubois completed the win on a power play.

Christian Wejse had reduced the lead to 2-1 on a rebound in the middle period.

Last year’s bronze medalist Latvia prevailed 3-2 over France in overtime in Group B in Ostrava. In the same group, star defenseman Erik Karlsson led Sweden with two goals and an assist to cruise past newcomer Poland 5-1.