PRAGUE — Connor Bedard scored twice as Canada opened its title defense at the ice hockey world championship with a 4-2 win over newcomer Britain on Saturday.

Bedard, coming off a great rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks, scored twice in a four-minute span of the second period to put the Group A game in Prague out of reach.

Canada had to rally from a goal down despite outshooting Britain 12-3 in the opening period and 34-15 overall.

Liam Kirk put Britain 1-0 ahead on a power play eight minutes into the game, but the lead lasted just 30 seconds as Michael Bunting scored from the point to tie it at 1.

Brandon Hagel put the defending champions ahead 5:45 into the second period with a shot into the roof of the net.

Then it was Bedard’s turn.

Bedard, 18, beat goaltender Jackson Whistle (30 saves) midway through the frame for his first goal at the senior worlds. He made it 4-1 after Nick Paul fed him with a perfect pass.

Ben O’Connor scored in the third period for Britain.

In Group B in the city of Ostrava, Kazakhstan defeated France 3-1 in their opening game.

The United States hopes to recover from an opening 5-2 loss to Sweden in a Group B game against Germany later Saturday.

Poland, another newcomer in the top division, faces last year’s bronze medalist Latvia in the same group, while Austria plays Denmark and the Czech Republic meets Norway in Group A.

Mystik Dan, the horse who won the Kentucky Derby by a nose in the race’s closest finish in more than a half-century, is heading to the Preakness next weekend after all, keeping alive the chance of another Triple Crown winner.

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced the decision Saturday after speaking with owners and weighing the pros and cons of racing his horse again on a short, two-week turnaround. He initially expressed concern about that timeframe after Mystik Dan ran poorly under the same circumstances in November.

But he liked enough of what he saw in training to take a chance.

“All systems go,” McPeek said Saturday. “The horse is doing fantastic.”

The possibility of Mystik Dan, who finished just ahead of Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the 1 1/4-mile race at Churchill Downs last weekend thanks to a perfect, rail-skimming ride by jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., not going to the Preakness next Saturday raised questions about the status of the prestigious race. Twice in the previous four years, the Derby winner did not run — a product of various circumstances.

But the lure of going to Baltimore was too much to pass up for McPeek, who won the pandemic-delayed 2020 Preakness with filly Swiss Skydiver, who beat Derby champion Authentic.

No one has won both the Derby and Preakness since the last Triple Crown champion, Justify in 2018 for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Mystik Dan doing so would set up a first: a Triple Crown on the line at Saratoga Race Course, where the Belmont is being held for the next two years while the race’s longtime home on Long Island is being torn down and rebuilt as part of a massive, $455 million reconstruction project.

But Mystik Dan may not be the Preakness favorite. That distinction likely belongs to Muth, one of two horses being brought by Baffert, who was again not allowed to enter horses in the Derby because of a ban on him by Churchill Downs caused by Medina Spirit failing a drug test after finishing first in the race in 2021.

The only other horse from the Derby expected to run in the Preakness is 17th-place finisher Just Steel, trained by 88-year-old Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.

Vincent Trocheck counted off the dishes on his family’s dinner table back in Pittsburgh.

There was chicken parmesan, rigatoni and arancini. There were meatballs, plates of linguine with shrimp and scallops and chicken cutlets. There was braciola, a rolled meat roulade smothered in tomato sauce.

The food wasn’t just for his own family, but for his hockey family. Trocheck has made it an annual tradition to host New York Rangers teammates for an Italian feast during the season: a chance to mangiare (eat up), as the Italians say, and a chance to bond.

“Have a good home-cooked meal on the road,” he said. “I just think it’s good to have everybody together.”

Trocheck brought everybody together again recently, but in a corner of the rink at Madison Square Garden, deliriously celebrating a goal.

After his double-overtime goal in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, Trocheck was surrounded by every Ranger on the ice and those who had skated off the bench. The goal horn was blaring. The New York fans were euphoric. Trocheck grinned widely in a sea of blue, an instant classic photo that became fodder for the Art But Make It Sports social media account:

Mme Kupka among Verticals, by František Kupka, 1910-11, 📸 by @themooneyshot https://t.co/9xjofXmK2P pic.twitter.com/l12vTqB3VA

— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) May 8, 2024

“When they go into overtime or double overtime, anyone can win those games,” Trocheck said. “Anything can happen.”

What happened in Game 2 has happened with frequency this season: The Rangers score on the power play. Just like they did to tie the game on a Chris Kreider goal in the third period — Trocheck assisted on that one.

“I think we do expect to score. We feel like as a unit, the team relies on us to score on the power play,” Trocheck said of their power play, clicking at 34.5%. “Special teams have been so big so far in the playoffs. We’re relied on a lot, and there’s a lot of pressure in that. We have this confidence, this rhythm. We just want to keep doing the same things, keep this going.”

The Rangers won the game 4-3 in part because the Hurricanes lacked confidence in their own power play, going 0-for-5 in 6:53 with the man advantage. Trocheck was on the ice for 4:16 of that penalty killing, more than any other New York forward.

If this Rangers season was a family meal, Trocheck would be the one organizing the place settings, stirring the meatballs, topping off everyone’s beverages and parking the cars.

In a season where the Rangers are closing in on their first Stanley Cup championship in 30 years, Vincent Trocheck is doing it all.

“He touches every part of the game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “The entire year, he’s a guy that’s been counted on in so many situations, on both sides of the puck.”

THIS REGULAR SEASON Trocheck averaged 21:27 in ice time per game, with 3:29 on the power play and 1:35 on the penalty kill. In seven playoff games, he’s averaging 23:59, with 4:19 spent on the power play and 3:36 on the kill.

He was second on the Rangers behind his linemate Artemi Panarin in the regular season with 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games. Through seven playoff games, he’s tied with Mika Zibanejad with 12 points in seven games (five goals, seven assists). That includes four even-strength points, seven power-play points and one short-handed point.

While many thought the Rangers’ even-strength play would be a liability against the Hurricanes, Trocheck said that wasn’t a concern.

“I don’t think anybody’s thinking that we have to score at 5-on-5. If we win 4-0 and it’s two power-play goals and two short-handed goals, nobody cares. We just have to score,” he said. “We’re just trying to win games no matter how we can.”

It’s clear that Laviolette believes one of the most efficient ways to win playoff games is copious amounts of Vincent Trocheck. No Rangers skater has played more through their first seven games.

“It’s the playoffs now. You have games that are pushed into multiple overtimes, and yet his role doesn’t change. He’s part of every part of the game,” Laviolette said. “I’m double-shifting him just to get him back in the faceoff circle. Power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5 play. He just keeps answering the bell. It’s noticeable. He’s engaged. You can see it in his demeanor and the way that he’s playing the game.”

This might be Trocheck’s finest season in the NHL. Part of that is owed to his incredible line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. No trio in the league played more together than they did (864 minutes). According to Evolving Hockey, Trocheck’s line averaged 3.76 goals per 60 minutes while giving up 2.27 goals per 60. They had an expected goals percentage of 54.9% at 5-on-5.

“Having chemistry with guys is important,” Trocheck said. “Having that continuity is important, too.”

In Game 3 against the Hurricanes on Thursday night, Panarin scored the overtime winner on a deflected pass from Trocheck, who had received the puck from Lafrenière.

“It was a great play for all three of them. They were able to get it in there, pick a puck up out of the corner,” Laviolette said. “Really nice play by Troch, and a great finish by Artemi.”

play

Rangers go up 3-0 on Artemi Panarin’s OT winner

Artemi Panarin deflects it in between his legs to score the winning goal for the Rangers in overtime.

It was the second goal generated in the game by the line, as Lafreniere scored his third of the playoffs earlier in the third period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

THE DOMINANCE OF that line helped Panarin (49 goals, 120 points) and Lafreniere (28 goals, 57 points) to new career bests in the regular season. Trocheck had his second-best goal-scoring season and set a new career best with 77 points, the highest-scoring season of his 11-year career.

He went to the NHL All-Star Game for the second time, bringing his hockey-obsessed five-year-old son Leo with him to Toronto. “I was most excited to have him experience that,” Trocheck said.

Trocheck’s career began in Florida in 2013-14, but it’s his second NHL destination that’s been in the conversation lately. He played three seasons with the Hurricanes before signing a seven-year, $39.375 million free agent contract with the Rangers in 2022.

Former Hurricanes center Derek Stepan played with Trocheck in the 2021-22 season, and he’s not surprised that Trocheck has found another level with the Rangers.

“He just does so many things right,” Stepan said. “He’s good in the [faceoff] dot. He can create space for his linemates offensively. He can score goals. Defensively, he’s responsible in pretty much all situations. So he is just a complete player and he is one of those guys that you need to have on your team.”

There are over a dozen players on the current Hurricanes team that played with Trocheck, including in an intense seven-game second-round loss to the Rangers in 2022. But Trocheck said that the emotions of facing his former teammates in a playoff series didn’t impact him.

“It’s a playoff series that we need to get past to achieve our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” Trocheck said. “I mean, I’ve played a bunch against these guys already. Playing against former teammates is nothing new. In this league, you move from team to team. It’s just another series.”

Laviolette, who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, consulted Trocheck before the series for some intel on the Hurricanes. But Rod Brind’Amour, Trocheck’s former coach, said he didn’t design any game plans to handle Trocheck despite knowing his tendencies from his Hurricanes days.

“He was a great player for us. We wanted to keep him. This wasn’t a trade or anything like that. It’s just business,” Brind’Amour said. “Clearly he’s been a great player for them. It’s not shocking. We knew that. They got a good one.”

A good one on and off the ice. Stepan wasn’t surprised to hear how Trocheck had bonded with the Rangers behind the scenes, from the locker room to the dinner table in Pittsburgh. He knew that guy in Carolina. He knew what he could become in New York.

“He’s an awesome dude. Likes to hang out, likes to have fun. He understands that the game can’t be taken too seriously,” Stepan said. “He’s able to joke around with anybody and everybody. He works hard at being a good teammate with all of his guys.”

Stepan paused for a moment. “I know I’m blowing a lot of smoke up his rear end, but he is truly all those things. I’m really happy for him.”