World Junior 2015: Team Canada's Connor McDavid, Nic Petan and Curtis Lazar provide lift 'in time of need'

TORONTO — Try to appreciate that Connor McDavid has gone from rehabbing on his own to showing why he's in a class by himself.

Portents of the 17-year-old phenom would eventually lead Team Canada at the world junior championship have steadily piled up. McDavid did, after all, dominate the world under-18 two seasons ago against essentially the same players and simply took over for whole shifts during games at the summer development camp in August. Now, after taking time to get up to speed in the tournament thanks to that 40-day layoff with a broken bone in his hand, he's been outstanding for Canada, with five assists across the last three games, including helpers on all three Nic Petan goals in the 5-1 semifinal winner over Slovakia on Sunday night. Of course, there's the small matter of a Monday's gold-medal game against Russia (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, TSN/RDS/Buzzing The Net livechat) to finish writing his legacy.

"Whenever you come back from an injury — it's hard to explain — it's weird at first," said McDavid, who now has 10 points in the tournament, one fewer than Petan, the fourth linemate that he and captain Curtis Lazar have had in six games. "The game feels different. Everything seems so fast, especially when you're jumping into a tournament like this.

"There's a couple weeks where you just don't know," McDavid said of the 40-day timeframe between his hand injury on Nov. 11 and his first game back with Team Canada on Dec. 21. "Then you start to realize that it's going to be a possibility. It was a long recovery, but it feels good to be where we are today.

"This is unbelievable," McDavid added. "This something that junior players dream of, getting this opportunity to have this in front of us tomorrow. Can't look too far ahead. We've got a great Russian team ahead of us."

Indeed, Russia looks formidable, particularly with the last line of defence that is New York Rangers goalie prospect Igor Shestyorkin. Any team in the world junior is a hot (or cold) goalie away from having its aspirations go poof. That said, McDavid seems locked in and has given Canada a true 1-2 punch.

"He's got that progression since Day 1 of training camp," Team Canada coach Benoît Groulx said. "It's not easy. We were talking about as coaches today the difference between this tournament and the Memorial Cup. The speed of the game, the talent on the ice. Now he's not at the Memorial Cup with his [Erie Otters] team in the OHL. Now he's got to make his comeback at the world championship, which is a world of difference. Playing in the [major junior] playoffs is not even close. These are the best players in the world. The game goes at 100 miles per hour and it's quite an adjustment and I really feel Connor's been better and better every game. Tonight, he was dominant out there."

Petan, whose father was among the fans who tossed a hat on the ice after the Winnipeg Jets prospect's hat trick goal in the third, has played with McDavid on the power play throughout the tournament. That was where they teamed up on the first goal 4:27 into the game. That was the only tally until late in the second when Groulx moved Brayden Point to the fourth line and did a plug-and-play with Petan on McDavid's troika, with Lazar flipping to the right side.

"Nic was skating well tonight," Groulx said. "He had jump, he was making plays and blocked some shots. Late in the second period, we decided to give him a chance with Connor with Curtis on his right side. They were dominant line in the third."

The new line scored off the rush with 1:54 left in the second, with McDavid scything through the Slovakia zone and shoving a cross-ice pass to Petan, who beat Denis Godla top shelf for the second time on the night.

"NIc definitely gave us a lift in our time of need," said Lazar, who had three assists in his own right.

Slovakia went in with the notion of staying within a goal through the first 40 minutes and maintaining a chance at the impossible. Instead it was down 3-1 after Groulx's switch.

"You're just on the bench, they tell you to go, you go," Petan related. "I was ready for it, for sure."

"He was great tonight," the Portland Winterhawks star said of McDavid. "Good vision. On the second goal I kind of knew he was going to slide it and he got it in the right spot. I thought it went crossbar out and I was standing in the corner and then realized I could celebrate."

Petan added that adapting to playing with Lazar and McDavid in 5-on-5 situations was not overly onerous.

"We've had chemistory on the power play throughout the tournament. It was a little bit different playing on the wing but I got used to it."

An onus on having a balanced attack likely explains why Petan and McDavid were apart prior to Sunday. The absence of Robby Fabbri and an opening 20 that Petan called "one of our worst periods"  — the shot counter said 6-6 and ended up at 44-15 — necessitated a switch. Petan reminded a rapt nation that his successive 100-point years in Portlandv weren't a byproduct of quality teammates.

"Even though Nic's a small player, he makes great moves and has among the best hands I've seen," said right wing Anthony Duclair, who scored the dagger goal with 17:13 left in the third. "That guy is electrifying. He does everything right and the little details show themselves when he gets the big goals."

Meanwhile, McDavid did grab his helmet after a centre-ice collision with 5:20 left but said he was physically fine, noting, "We just got mixed up." There likely isn't anything that would keep him from trying to win on Monday.

'Feeling you have to feel for yourself'

Russia is much brawnier on the blueline than Slovakia, whose defence got tenderized as the night went on, particularly by heavy-game specialists Frédérik Gauthier, Lawson Crouse and Nick Ritchie. McDavid was mindful that the game was not going to be a blowout, particularly with the way Godla has been stealing games (and pieces of Canadian hearts).

"People had all these lofty expectations on this game that were not realistic," he said. "Slovakia's a good team and they played well tonight. We just stayed calm and did what we had to do."

There is still one more game and the nagging thought that Russia has been grinding out wins since finishing third in Group B while Canada has been cruising, regularly levelling 40-some shots per game. On form, they are the favourites, but remember that all bets are off with Russia.

"It's going to be a very physical game, a lot of emotions," Duclair said. "As a little kid, these are the games you dream of playing in."

McDavid knows what's ahead, but refused to get ahead of himself by getting drawn into any flight of fancy about the atmosphere on Gold Medal Monday.

"That's a feeling you have to feel for yourself," he said in a tone as soft as one of those passes that landed on Petan's blade.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.