'The shootout is just a lottery': Wings prospect Bednar almost leads Czechia to upset win

Detroit Red Wings prospect Jan Bednar made 28 saves for Czechia in a 4-3 shootout loss against Finland (2-0) at the world junior hockey championships on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Bednar, a 6-foot-4, 200 pound goalie who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, has allowed three power-play goals with a 1-1 record in the tournament.

"The shootout is just a lottery," Czechia forward and 2022 first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres Jiri Kulich told iihf.com. "Maybe in a soccer match we would have won."

The game marked the first shootout in four years at the world juniors. The last game to to a shootout was between Denmark and Belarus in 2018.

For Finland, Kasper Simontaival scored the shootout winner to break a 3-3 tie and Wings draft pick Eemil Viro was minus-1 in 17:10 of ice time.

Also Thursday, Canada captain Mason McTavish had four goals and two assists in an 11-1 rout over Slovakia.

McTavish, the 19-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect, matched the Canadian record for goals in a game in the tournament. Other players who have accomplished the feat include Mario Lemieux (1984), Brayden Schenn (2011) and Maxime Comtois (2019).

Wings draft pick Donovan Sebrango and Michigan forward Kent Johnson each had one assist and were plus-2 for Canada.

Dylan Garand made 22 saves. Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa was the backup goalie. Canada will face the Czech Republic on Saturday.

In the late game, Jackson native Carter Mazur had two goals, one assist and was plus-3 in Team USA's 7-1 win over Switzerland.

Michigan's Luke Hughes had three assists, Thomas Bordeleau had one goal and two assists and Mackie Samoskevich had two assists for the U.S. (2-0).