US Survives Norwegian Scare

I normally have a hockey game on when I'm working from home, and today was no different as I tuned in to watch a few games for the IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship today. Things were going well as far as scores were concerned until the US-Norway game happened where we were treated to goals, drama, intrigue, and more goals! You might think that, based on these two teams, one team did most of the scoring, and that's partly true. But that's where the drama and intrigue enter the equation as we saw an incredible comeback that could have shocked the world!

If you were guessing that the Americans were doing all the scoring, you weren't wrong in the early part of this game. Cutter Gauthier and Clayton Keller had Team USA up 2-0 before the game was eight minutes old, but Norway got one back when Stian Solberg scored on the power-play. However, goals by Tage Thompson and Michael McCarron has the Americans leading 4-1 by the time the first intermission was underway. With a significant edge on the scoreboard through twenty minutes, Team USA looked like they were in control.

Tage Thompson would add his second goal of the game early in the second period to make it a 5-1 game for the Americans, and it looked like they were shifting into cruise control over an outgunned opponent. Norway, though, came to play today as Solberg made it 5-2 with his second goal, and they'd cut the deficit to 5-3 when Martin Ronnild scored on a breakaway. Norway wasn't out of the woods by any means, but the 5-3 score is far more respectable if the game were to end there. But we had one period to go.

The Norwegians clearly believed that the Americans were faltering, and Noah Steen made it a one-goal game midway through the final frame. As time wound down, Norway called goaltender Tobias Normann to the bench for the extra attacker, and that move paid off as defenceman and Anaheim Ducks prospect Stian Solberg capped off his hat trick with the tying goal to make it a 5-5 game! Count me as one of the people who never thought we'd be talking about Team USA and Norway going to overtime, but it happened!

When it comes to a one-shot-to-win game, you can basically throw "favourites" out the window when it comes to who should win. Talent can push one team to a win, of course, but any bounce, any deflection, and any puck sent towards the net could be the game-winner. The only thing I didn't want to see was a shootout to determine the winner. Can we just retire them altogether?

We wouldn't need to worry about the skills competition. There was a goal scored, and here are the highlights from the overtime period.
As you saw on the highlight above, Tage Thompson capped off his own hat trick with the overtime game-winning goal 4:09 into the extra period, and Team USA claimed two of the three points in this game with the 6-5 overtime win. After a loss to the Swiss earlier this week, a loss to the Norwegians may have the Americans asking how things could unravel so quickly. Instead, they get back on the winning side of the ledger while Norway can build on their solid effort.

"There's no easy teams," Thompson said to Lukas Aykroyd of the IIHF after the game. "They're all very good. Obviously we played Germany in the exhibition there, and they work extremely hard. They're fast. They battle hard. They're very physical. With that, and then adding a few more guys with a lot of skill and finishing ability, it's going to be a tough one for us. So we've just got to mentally get prepared for it."

The Americans will face Germany on Saturday after a couple of days off while Norway will meet Switzerland on Friday. For Norway, they'll look to keep the momentum going against a very good defensive team in Switzerland.

"It was fun to play," Solberg said to Aykroyd. "We battled hard. We battled all the way. Never gave up. The U.S. is a great hockey team compared to Norway, but we just had to compete hard. We never gave up and we got lucky a little bit, and then it's a tight hockey game. Things can turn fast in hockey."

No one is celebrating in the streets in Oslo right now as Norway earned their first point at the tournament, but it keeps them within striking distance of both Hungary and Kazakhstan when it comes to avoiding relegation. With games against Switzerland and Denmark coming up next, Norway will need to battle for points. Otherwise, the May 19 game against Hungary will prove to be pivotal when it comes to which teams will be facing relegation.

I never expected the US-Norway game to be as entertaining as it was today, and here's hoping the Norwegian team can find a way to remain in the top division. They may not have the talent that Sweden, Canada, and the US boast, but they work hard and they play sixty minutes. They'll need some time to get better, but each and every game is an opportunity for Norway to do so.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!