Norway: Siltanews – News Desk
Talk about wild drama. Tage Thompson completed his hat trick at 4:09 of overtime to lift the U.S. to a 6-5 victory over Norway on Wednesday. The Norwegians rallied from a 5-1 deficit and earned their first point in Herning through four Group B games.
Thompson pounded home a one-timer on the power play with Norwegian captain Emil Lilleberg in the box for holding. Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s American players weren’t satisfied with their performance in Monday’s 3-0 loss to Switzerland. Despite getting two points, this outing also raises concerns.
“It was closer than we would have liked,” Thompson said. “I think the Swiss game was a tough one, and Norway made another tough one. Honestly, I don’t think there’s going to be any easy games moving forward. So you’ve got to do the right things every shift you’re out there, or other teams are going to make you pay.”
Captain Clayton Keller, Cutter Gauthier, and Michael McCarron also scored for the Americans. Stian Solberg starred with three goals for the Norwegians. The Anaheim Ducks prospect now leads all defenseman in goals at this tournament (four). Solberg becomes just the third 19-year-old Norwegian defenseman to record three or more career goals, joining Per Vogt, who had five in 1949 and 1950 combined, and Mattias Norstebo, who had three in 2015.
“It was fun to play,” said Solberg. “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.”
Martin Ronnild and Noah Steen had the other Norwegian goals.
U.S. goalie Jeremy Swayman recorded the win against his Norwegian counterpart Tobias Normann. Both net minders would like to have had some of the goals back that they allowed. Final shots favored America 39-18, including a 20-5 gap in the first period.
Norway’s big comeback was reminiscent of Austria’s rally last year from a 6-1 deficit against Canada, which ended 7-6 on Canadian captain John Tavares’ overtime marker.
“The way it looked after the first, it could easily been 10-1,” Norwegian veteran Andreas Martinsen admitted. “We weren’t ready, and when you’re not ready against a team like the U.S., it’s going to be tough. But we managed to come back.”
The Scandinavian underdogs didn’t get off on the right foot. With Sander Engebraten off for cross-checking, the Americans peppered Normann with shots. Just six seconds after that minor expired, Gauthier opened the scoring at 4:50 with one of his trademark one-timers from the hash marks, set up by Shane Pinto.
Gauthier is tied with Solberg, Canada’s Bo Horvat, and Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad for the goal-scoring lead (four) at this Ice Hockey World Championship. The Anaheim forward’s previous high was seven goals in 2023.
“He’s got one of the best shots I’ve seen,” Thompson said of Gauthier. “Any time he’s in open ice and he can get it on net, it’s got a good chance of going in. I like watching him play. He’s a pure goal-scorer. So I’m excited to see what he does the rest of the tournament.”
At 7:18, Keller doubled the U.S. lead, cutting into the left faceoff circle and sailing a wrister past Normann’s glove side with the goalie on his knees.