– This is a big win for us. You will remember this for a long time, said goalscorer Sondre Olden.

It was then that the Norwegian national ice hockey team beat Canada in sensational and dramatic fashion.

– It really hurts. Ice hockey thrill. There’s nothing more to say, I’m speechless, says Viaplay expert Alexander Bonsaksen.

– I really have to applaud the efforts of the Norwegians. What a venture. It is very powerful, says SVT Sports expert Håkan Loob.

The drama came eleven seconds from full time in the third round at 2–1 to Norway. Then Lawson Crouse equalized at 2-2 and sealed “sudden death” in Riga.

Norway created some good chances in extra time but in the end it all had to be decided on penalties. There, the Norwegian players kept their cool and secured a convincing victory.

Norway scored four out of five possible attempts, while Canada missed twice. A real achievement by the Norwegian team

This was Norway’s first win over Canada in 23 years. Canada is ranked as the second best national team in the world, second only to Finland. Norway is number 12 on the same list.

Towards the judge

Just before Canada’s 2-2 score, a controversial situation arose. Johannes Johannesen tripped, but without the referee taking any action. After the match, the coach of the Norwegian national team Tobias Johansson was still angry with the situation.

– I’m still very angry with the judges. They tried to steal the win from us today but we were very strong mentally and executed the game plan one hundred percent. “We have shown in these six games that we can measure our strengths with anyone,” Johansson told Viaplay.

– They’re totally nuts on the bench. I understand that they are very upset there, says the SVT Loob expert.

Andreas Martinsen and Sondre Olden scored Norway’s goals in normal time. Milan Lucic reduced it to 2–1 to Canada before the dramatic end.

Not for the preliminaries

Norway was unable to reach the play-offs in WC this year, but victory over Canada opened the door for a strong final placement. With the victory over Slovakia in the last match, the Norwegian ice warriors can overcome the 13th place of the previous two world championships.

Canada has already qualified for the playoffs.

Norway has had a relatively good defense with twelve behind in six matches, but going forward it has all been down. Seven goals have been created and three of them came in the first game. The extra time since the game against Kazakhstan (two goals from two possible) is not clear. More than 50 minutes have been played in the game with one more person on the ice.

Next year’s WC will be held in the Czech Republic with venues in Prague and Ostrava.