Bedard held without a point for third straight game. His Blackhawks linemate and Swiss forward Philipp Kurashev also kept off scoresheet.
Connor Bedard and Blackhawks linemate Philipp Kurashev met as opponents for the first time when Canada took on Switzerland in a key contest at the IIHF World Championships on Sunday in Prague.
The two forwards clicked plenty of times as teammates last season with Chicago. But neither hit the scoresheet in this one as the Canadians prevailed 3-2 in an intense, feisty game that allowed them to take control of Group A.
Canada got the game-winner on Nick Paul's tip-in.
IIHF
Bedard was held without a point for the third straight game after posting five goals and one assist in the opening three contests at the Worlds.
Bedard led NHL rookies in 2023-24 with 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games for Chicago. Kurashev had a breakout season alongside him with 18 goals and 54 points in 75 contests.
Against Switzerland, the 18-year-old Bedard looked shaky at times in just 10:14 of ice time.
Swiss and Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Fiala put a hard hit on Bedard along the boards in the first period.
Canada had a five-minute power play in the second after Fiala was whistled and ejected for kneeing at 6:15 of the period. Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens scored his second goal of the game halfway through the advantage, at 8:46, to tie the game at 2.
Bedard got some time on the power play, but lost the puck at the point to Switzerland's Calvin Thurkauf. Bedard scrambled awkwardly and hauled down Thurkauf on a short-handed breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot for the Swiss at 9:24.
IIHF rules are different than the NHL's. Swiss coach Patrick Fischer chose Sven Andrighetto to take the penalty shot, but St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington stopped him with his blocker to maintain the tie.
Canada's Nick Paul, who plays for Tampa Bay, scored the game-winner at 10:39 on a tip-in.
Canada has five regulation and one overtime win against no losses at the Worlds and leads Group A with 17 points, two ahead of Czechia and three ahead of Switzerland. The Canadians play their final round-robin game on Tuesday against the Czechs.
Before the tournament, both Bedard and Kurashev joked they wanted to score on Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek, one of Czechia's two goaltenders. It's likely, however, that Lukas Dostal, the Anaheim goalie who has a hotter hand, will be in nets.
