Norway took a step closer to making the playoff stage by beating Sweden 3–2. Eirik Salsten scored the game-winner while Norway was shorthanded in the third period.
 
Noah Steen scored twice for Norway, Henrik Haukeland made 32 saves.  Ivar Stenberg and Lucas Raymond scored for Sweden. 

“We started scoring goals, too, but the penalty kill was big today,” said Norway’s Max Krogdahl. “We got under their skin a bit, and we worked as a group."

“They played tough but I think we controlled the game. We just couldn'’t find a way to score the goals. They played hard, they were hungry and won a lot of pucks, and basically, outbattled us in the first period,” Sweden’s Emil Heineman said. 
 

Even before the game, Norway was looking forward to upsetting their neighbors. 

“It’s going to be fun. We’re excited to play against Sweden. Beating them would mean a lot for Norway and Norwegian hockey,” Steen told Swedish media.
 
It wasn’t an overstatement. After all, before today’s game, Norway and Sweden had played 19 times in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, and Norway had one tie and one win—none in regulation time—under its belt. It came fifteen years ago in Bratislava when they beat Sweden in a shootout. Not only had Sweden won 17 out of 19 games, they had also posted a 107–27 goal difference.
 
In Fribourg, though, Norway was only two points behind Sweden in the standings—with a game in hand.
 
Both teams put their faith in young, up-and-coming stars. Sweden had 18-year-olds Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Björck, as well as 24-year-old veteran Lucas Raymond, who was third in the tournament scoring race with nine points in five games. Norway’s Tinus Luc Koblar, 18, in turn, had scored five points in four games.
 
Norway got its first power-play opportunity at 7:59, but just eleven seconds into it, a Norwegian defender brought down Jacob de la Rose on a breakaway, and Sweden was awarded a penalty shot. 
 
Henrik Haukeland made a great save on Raymond’s wrist shot.
 
The power play continued, and Norway got back to work. At 9:32, Steen one-timed Eskild Bakke Olsen’s fantastic pass from behind the net to give Norway the lead it so desperately wanted to push Sweden onto its heels.
 
Sweden got a power play opportunity at the beginning of the second period, and they, too, capitalized on their one-man advantage. Raymond passed the puck to Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the point, and he fired a shot toward the net. Bjorck got his blade on it, the puck hit Jack Berglund in the face and ricocheted to Stenberg, who whacked it in out of mid-air and off Haukeland’s pants, to tie the game at 2:23.
 
Sweden’s first power play unit was back at it eleven minutes into the period. However, this time it was Norway who struck. 
 
A puck battle in the Norwegian corner led to a Norwegian player losing his helmet and heading over to the bench. To kill time, Steen held on to the puck and then spun around, leaving Stenberg in the dust. Steen used his teammate as a decoy on a 2-on-1, drove to the net, and fired a wrister that beat Söderblom at 13:15 to make it 2–1 for Norway.
 
It was a determined Tre Kronor that came back after the intermission. All lines had long possessions in the Norwegian zone, Sweden outshot Norway 5-0 in the early going, and at 3:10 Raymond fired his trademark wrister from the left faceoff circle, and the game was tied, 2-2. 
 

 

 

 

 

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Sweden got two power-play opportunities in the first nine minutes of the period. Norway killed the first penalty—and scored its second shorthanded goal during the second one. 
 
Martin Ronnild intercepted Raymond’s pass at the Swedish blue line, sending Eirik Salsten on a breakaway.

“I saw the chance and all of a sudden my legs were fresh. It’s all instinct,” Salsten said. “Special teams are important and today, ours were successful today."

Norway was back on top, 3–2, at 9:11.

And they stayed there. Sweden hit the post twice, but didn't get any closer than that.