HALIFAX – Rick Nash scored Canada's second power play goal of the game with just under four minutes left in the third period to lift the defending world champions to a 2-1 win over Norway in qualification round action Thursday at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.
 
Nash took a pass from Mike Green and broke down the left wing. He made a smart move to get past a defenceman at the face-off circle and then cut across the crease and tucked a backhand past goalie Pal Grotnes at 16:02.
 
Nash now has 18 goals in 22 games for Canada at the world championship.
 
The win was Canada's fourth straight at the '08 tournament and extended its winning streak to 13 games, dating back to last year in Moscow. Canada's next game is Saturday against Germany (LIVE on TSN/RDS beginning at 3:20 p.m. ET/12:20 p.m. PT).
 
The Canadians controlled the play throughout the game but Grotnes was brilliant and was the only reason the Scandinavians didn't lose by a wide margin. Canada outshot Norway 53-16.
 
Canada's penalty killing was also spectacular, especially with the game was tied 1-1 in the third. The Norwegians failed to score or even get a quality scoring chance on three straight five-on-three advantages. The Canadians were shorthanded for a stretch of seven minutes, 55 seconds but kept the Norwegians off the scoreboard.
 
Green opened the scoring at 9:32 of the first period with his second goal of the tournament. He was cruising through the slot when he snapped a rebound off a Brent Burns shot past Grotnes, high to the goalie's glove side.
 
The Canadians kept coming in offensive wave after offensive wave and continued to pepper Grotnes with shots, but the Norwegian continued to frustrate his opponents.
 
The Norwegians had their first offensive flurry early in the second period, giving Canadian netminder Pascal Leclaire his first bit of action in the game.
 
Nash had a great chance to put the home side ahead by a pair after being sent in alone by linemate Ryan Getzlaf, but had his stick explode just as he unleashed a wrist shot and the lack of velocity on the shot made for an easy save for Grotnes.

The Norwegians pulled even at the four-minute mark of the second, as Mads Hansen won a foot race to the puck with the Canadians on the powerplay, beating Leclaire for the 1-1 goal.

The Canadians were warned to expect a tough game for the Norwegians.
 
"They are a tough team to play against," Nash told TSN in an interview in the second intermission. 'They sit back and wait for you to make a mistake. We just have to keep playing our game."
 
They Canadians did just that in the third to eke out the win.

Thursday was the 14th anniversary of Canada’s first world title in 33 years, where Luc Robitaille – now an assistant general manager with Canada – scored the game-winning goal in a shootout to beat the Finns in Italy.

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Final

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Goals/Buts :
9.32 - PP - Canada - 52. GREEN, Mike (9. ROY, Derek, 8. BURNS, Brent)

Penalties/Pénalités :
5:16 - Canada - 21. MAYERS, Jamal - Tripping
8:17 - Norway - 5. KAUNISMAKI, Juha - Holding
13.43 - Canada - 61. NASH, Rick - Slashing
15:00 - Norway - 9. HOLTET, Marius - Tripping
19.52 - Norway - 21. ASK, Morten - Hooking

Goals/Buts :
33.59 - SH1 - Norway - 8. HANSEN, Mads

Penalties/Pénalités :
29.49 - Canada - 19. DOAN, Shane - Interference
28.30 - Norway - 27. FROSHAUG, Mats - Hooking
30.25 - Norway - 7. JAKOBSEN, Tommy - Hooking
32.05 - Norway - 54. MYRVOLD, Anders - Hooking
34.32 - Norway 54. MYRVOLD, Anders - Holding

Goals/Buts :
56.02 - PP1 - Canada - 61. NASH, Rick (52. GREEN, Mike)

Penalties/Pénalités :
40.21 - Norway - 48. ZUCCARELLO AASEN, Mats - Tripping
41.30 - Norway - 9. HOLTET, Marius - Slashing
43.20 - Canada - 16. TOEWS, Jonathan - Slashing
45.11 - Canada - 2. HAMHUIS, Dan - Holding
45.56 - Canada 14. KUNITZ, Chris - Slashing
47.33 - 4 min - Canada 2. HAMHUIS, Dan High - Sticking
54.19 - Norway - 20. BASTIANSEN, Anders - High Sticking

GOLD MEDAL COACH SAYS CANADA CAN’T LOOK PAST NORWAY by Alan Adams

Pat Quinn has a few words of caution for members of Canada’s entry at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.

Quinn feels Canada's next opponent, Norway, will be tougher than the Canucks think and they should not look past them towards later games.Canada plays Norway on Thursday in the first game of the qualification round of the world championship, LIVE on TSN/RDS beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT.

Quinn coached Canada to Olympic gold in 2002 and was behind the bench four years later when the Canadians couldn’t defend their Olympic title. Quinn recalled a loss to Switzerland at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Italy when he thought about the upcoming Canada-Norway match. "We looked by Switzerland and it speaks more about us than the Swiss," says Quinn, recently back from Russia where he guided Canada's National Men’s Under-18 Team to a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

"For us not to be ready to play or not ready to be professional about how we practice our profession, we can't do that," Quinn says. "We used to be able to but not anymore. I thought we as a group looked past that team and it was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever had."

Quinn used Canada's 9-2 victory over Germany at the U18 tournament as an example of a team that refuses to get down on itself after a lopsided loss. He expects the Norwegians to have the same mindset."We spanked the Germans on the opening night and they went on to finish fifth. It shows they have some spunk so our guys can't underestimate what they will face, not for a minute," says Quinn. "Sometimes we have played other nations they get down for a little bit and they stop playing but the Germans don't. They just keep plugging and keep coming at you. The Europeans don't quit."

Quinn says it would be wrong to read into Canada's all-time 14-1 won-lost record against Norway. The Canadians lost 4-3 in 2000 and beat the Norwegians 4-2 last year in Moscow, which indicates that Norwegian hockey has come a long way in a short time. Norway beat Germany 3-2 on Wednesday night to clinch second spot in Group C, and Quinn feels the Norwegians will be pumped to play the defending world champions on home soil.

"The Norwegians will not lie down and they will not quit. They will grind and grind and grind. They do not play pretty but they play hard. It won't be an easy game."