Goalies and the depth of the 2023 NHL draft class took center stage at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in British Columbia.

Connor Bedard was the star attraction. But in the end, the 2023 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game served up a reminder that the 2023 NHL draft class has been lauded for its depth of talent as much as the generational star who's expected to go first overall.

On Wednesday, a number of players looking forward to hearing their names called in June distinguished themselves as Team White impressively kept Bedard off the scoresheet on the way to a 4-2 win over Team Red at the sold-out Langley Events Centre. 

Just 3:21 into the first period, Mathieu Cataford of the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads opened the scoring for Team Red, flipping a backhand from the slot over the shoulder of Seattle Thunderbirds netminder Scott Ratzlaff.

It was the only goal allowed by Raztlaff. The native of Irma, Alta., first landed on hockey fans' radar with his gold-medal performance at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup last summer and has followed up with a strong draft-year campaign.

Ratzlaff was busy on Wednesday, making 24 saves in the first 31:30 of game action. 

A key stop came on a daring Michigan attempt by Riley Heidt of the Prince George Cougars.

"When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw 'Heidter' pick it up on his tape, and I'm like, 'OK, I better cover this because if I get scored on with the Michigan, it's gonna be all over TSN for the next month,'" Ratzlaff chuckled after the game.

Though he said he had not faced a Michigan attempt previously, he instinctively knew how to counter.

"I gotta seal the post because you can go low or high," he explained. "I think I kind of just stood up there and tried to cover as much area as possible."

According to Ratzlaff, it was critical he started to track his foe before Heidt went behind the net.

"I think that's where goalies can get into trouble," he said. "They don't quite look over their shoulder. I think having those early eyes really helped me."

The other three goalies in the game also had solid outings. Top North American prospect Carson Bjarnason stopped 16 of 17 shots for Team Red in 31:30 of action. He was relieved by Charlie Robertson of the North Bay Battalion, who stopped 11 of 13 in 26:58 and was charged with the loss.

Team White's second goalie, Jackson Unger of the Moose Jaw Warriors, allowed just one goal on 22 shots in 28:30. He was beaten by Zach Benson with the game all but decided and just 36 seconds left to play.

Heidt picked up the second assist on that goal. And with his five shots on goal, he was named player of the game in the losing cause for Team Red.

Ratzlaff finished his half of the game with an exclamation point, making his fourth stop of the night against Bedard to ensure that he'd be able to say that he hadn't allowed this year's top draft prospect to pick up a point off him.

"It's kind of a feather in your cap," he said. "He's got a great release, he can shoot from anywhere and he's very dynamic. So I think keeping him off the scoreboard was kind of a team goal, making sure he was always covered, making sure we've got eyes on him."

It's no small feat. Bedard is the WHL's leading scorer, with 81 points in 33 games, and is riding a 32-game point streak after scoring in all but one game with Regina so far this season.

All four goals for Team White on Wednesday came from OHL players. 

Team captain Colby Barlow of the Owen Sound Attack tied the game with a power-play marker at 6:25 of the first. From there, the game remained scoreless until the third period. 

Three minutes after Kalan Lind of the Red Deer Rebels ignited his teammates and brought the fans in Langley to their feet when he fought Team Red's Alex Pharand, Carson Rehkopf of the Kitchener Rangers gave his side a lead it wouldn't relinquish on an impressive individual effort.

Luca Pinelli of the Ottawa 67's tallied what proved to be the game-winner with 6:40 left to play in the third, and Calum Ritchie of the Oshawa Generals hit the empty Team Red net with 3:30 left on the clock before Zach Benson rounded out the scoring with 36 seconds left on the clock.

After adding an assist on Ritchie's empty-netter, Rehkopf was named player of the game for the winning side. It's just one game, but it's an accolade which should reflect favorably as scouts and GMs get serious about assembling and ranking their lists for the draft in Nashville this June.

And make no mistake — the prospects who were invited to this showcase had every intention of showing themselves in the best possible light. 

For injury replacement Nick Lardis of the Hamilton Bulldogs, that took the form of acing Tuesday's on-ice testing. For Sherbrooke's Ethan Gauthier, the highest-ranked player from the QMJHL at No. 14 on the list of North American skaters from NHL Central Scouting, it meant leaning into the physicality of a game where players don't necessarily need to hit the scoresheet to get noticed.

"We were kind of the underdogs in the game," said Gauthier, a scrappy winger who says he models his game after the take-no-prisoners style of Ottawa's Brady Tkachuk. "A lot of people thought Team Red was going to win. It's like Bedard, (Zach) Benson, a lot of talent there.

"We came out strong and wanted to get them off guard a bit with the physicality in the first period," he continued. "It was kind of the game I expected: really physical, really hard and we're happy about the result."

On the losing side, forward Gracyn Sawchyn of the Seattle Thunderbirds had an active game, held off the scoresheet but noticeable all night for his playmaking and deft puck-handling.

As for Bedard — it would be understandable if the whirlwind of the last month has caught up to him a little bit. After all, it has been barely a month since he hit the ice with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, where he won gold and was named MVP while breaking a slew of records along the way.

Then, it was straight back to Regina, where the Pats need a strong second half to solidify their playoff position. And this week, as much as Bedard has had the opportunity to come home to the Greater Vancouver area and suit up with lots of old friends, he has also been dealing with a tremendous amount of media attention as well as knowing that he had a large group of family and friends in the stands to watch him play. 

On a rare night when he was held off the scoresheet, Bedard still led all skaters with six shots on goal. And let's face it — even established stars like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby can't bring their 'A' games every night.

And honestly, it could have been worse. At least he wasn't among the small group of players who tumbled to the ice after tripping over a camouflaged piece of dark carpeting ahead of Wednesday's ceremonial faceoff.

Nobody said the path to draft day would be without its obstacles.