Norway's Mathias Delhi (#17) scores his team's second goal in a 5-3 win over Latvia at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Espoo, Finland.
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
Talk about Viking fighting spirit. Norway stormed to a three-goal first-period lead and hung tough to down Latvia 5-3 on Monday in Espoo. Mathias Dehli paced the attack with a pair of goals.
This was the first Norwegian win of the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship, boosting their playoff aspirations as they eye their last preliminary-round game against pointless Slovakia on Tuesday. Norway is currently third in Group A.
"We started really well in the first, scored some nice goals," said Dehli, who plays for Lorenskog IK. "And then in the second and third, I thought we came down a little bit, but still played well enough to get the win."
Latvia, whose group stage is over, outshot Norway 35-29. Norwegian goalie Markus Walberg stood tall for the three points.
Niklas Aaram Olsen, coach Kim Veisten's lone 2008-born player, also stood out. The 182-cm, 78-kg forward, who is developing with Sweden’s Orebro HK, picked up a goal and an assist.
"Maybe we weren't that good from the start of the game," said Latvian captain Krists Retenais. "We kind of wasted the first period. The opponent played very well. I think they wanted to score goals more, and they were faster. But we also showed our character."
The only previous U18 Worlds clash between these nations saw Latvia prevail 1-0 last year on a Toms Mots goal and a 19-save Aksels Ozols shutout.
Hoping for some Norwegian quarter-final magic, Dehli said: "It would mean everything. It's history for Norway to come so far."
With precision passing, Norway drew first blood on its first power play at 7:44. Assistant captain Elias Vatne, who led Norway at last year’s tournament with five points, sent the puck down to Rasmus Olsen Brekke, and Lukas Finckenhagen converted Brekke’s cross-ice pass on the doorstep.
It marked the first lead Norway has enjoyed at these U18 Worlds after falling 7-0 to Finland and 8-2 to the Americans.
Just 1:09 later, the Norwegians went up 2-0 on an exciting rush. Aaram Olsen burst down left wing and dished the puck to Dehli in the middle. He deked to the backhand and slid the puck past Latvian goalie Nils Maurins.
"It was a nice breakout and a good pass from Niklas," said Dehli. "I saw their goalie going deep, faked the shot, and then put it in on the other side."
Walberg also praised Aaram Olsen: "He's a big guy and I think he's going to be a great player."
Defender Harijs Cjunskis almost got Latvia on the board when he raced into the Norwegian zone and zapped a wrist shot that Walberg bobbled with his glove. The puck just failed to trickle over the goal line.
That miss proved costly. Aaram Olsen stretched the Norwegian lead to 3-0 at 18:08, picking off an errant pass and jumping into the slot to unleash a laser.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Norway’s fortunes took a downturn. Finckenhagen was ejected for a reckless charge on Latvia’s Maxims Haritoncevs, who had just dumped the puck on net from the Norwegian blue line.
On the ensuing five-minute major, it took the Latvians 26 seconds to break Walberg’s shutout bid. They worked the puck to the front of the net, where Daniels Serkins whacked in his second goal of these U18 Worlds at 2:14. Serkins, a Riga-born 16-year-old, has honed his skills in England and now Switzerland (Thurgau).
"My teammate Olivers Murnieks got it to me in the middle, and I just wanted to get the puck on net," said Serkins. "I took it on my blade and put it five-hole."
The Latvians energetically but inefficiently tried to narrow the gap. Instead, Dehli restored Norway's three-goal lead with a tricky tip of Erlend Sletmoe-Kjarnet's left point shot at 14:33.
With 39 seconds left in the middle frame, Norwegian captain Ludvig Lafton put the game out of reach with a high-centre point release on the power play.
Coach Olegs Sorokins' boys kept on coming. At 0:59 of the third, Klaucans gave Latvian fans a reason to cheer when he golfed in a juicy rebound to cut the deficit to 5-2. At 9:04, Latvian assistant captain Darels Uljanskis added his first of the tournament, bulging the twine with a long power-play wrister.
Yet despite the spirited chanting and drum-beating from the stands, Latvia would get no closer.
"We have to forget about this game," said Serkins. "Of course, maybe we'll look at the negative parts and positive parts, but overall we'll forget about it, regenerate, and just look ahead. We'll see what happens between Slovakia and Norway and just hope for the best."
This was the first Norwegian win of the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship, boosting their playoff aspirations as they eye their last preliminary-round game against pointless Slovakia on Tuesday. Norway is currently third in Group A.
"We started really well in the first, scored some nice goals," said Dehli, who plays for Lorenskog IK. "And then in the second and third, I thought we came down a little bit, but still played well enough to get the win."
Latvia, whose group stage is over, outshot Norway 35-29. Norwegian goalie Markus Walberg stood tall for the three points.
Niklas Aaram Olsen, coach Kim Veisten's lone 2008-born player, also stood out. The 182-cm, 78-kg forward, who is developing with Sweden’s Orebro HK, picked up a goal and an assist.
"Maybe we weren't that good from the start of the game," said Latvian captain Krists Retenais. "We kind of wasted the first period. The opponent played very well. I think they wanted to score goals more, and they were faster. But we also showed our character."
The only previous U18 Worlds clash between these nations saw Latvia prevail 1-0 last year on a Toms Mots goal and a 19-save Aksels Ozols shutout.
Hoping for some Norwegian quarter-final magic, Dehli said: "It would mean everything. It's history for Norway to come so far."
With precision passing, Norway drew first blood on its first power play at 7:44. Assistant captain Elias Vatne, who led Norway at last year’s tournament with five points, sent the puck down to Rasmus Olsen Brekke, and Lukas Finckenhagen converted Brekke’s cross-ice pass on the doorstep.
It marked the first lead Norway has enjoyed at these U18 Worlds after falling 7-0 to Finland and 8-2 to the Americans.
Just 1:09 later, the Norwegians went up 2-0 on an exciting rush. Aaram Olsen burst down left wing and dished the puck to Dehli in the middle. He deked to the backhand and slid the puck past Latvian goalie Nils Maurins.
"It was a nice breakout and a good pass from Niklas," said Dehli. "I saw their goalie going deep, faked the shot, and then put it in on the other side."
Walberg also praised Aaram Olsen: "He's a big guy and I think he's going to be a great player."
Defender Harijs Cjunskis almost got Latvia on the board when he raced into the Norwegian zone and zapped a wrist shot that Walberg bobbled with his glove. The puck just failed to trickle over the goal line.
That miss proved costly. Aaram Olsen stretched the Norwegian lead to 3-0 at 18:08, picking off an errant pass and jumping into the slot to unleash a laser.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Norway’s fortunes took a downturn. Finckenhagen was ejected for a reckless charge on Latvia’s Maxims Haritoncevs, who had just dumped the puck on net from the Norwegian blue line.
On the ensuing five-minute major, it took the Latvians 26 seconds to break Walberg’s shutout bid. They worked the puck to the front of the net, where Daniels Serkins whacked in his second goal of these U18 Worlds at 2:14. Serkins, a Riga-born 16-year-old, has honed his skills in England and now Switzerland (Thurgau).
"My teammate Olivers Murnieks got it to me in the middle, and I just wanted to get the puck on net," said Serkins. "I took it on my blade and put it five-hole."
The Latvians energetically but inefficiently tried to narrow the gap. Instead, Dehli restored Norway's three-goal lead with a tricky tip of Erlend Sletmoe-Kjarnet's left point shot at 14:33.
With 39 seconds left in the middle frame, Norwegian captain Ludvig Lafton put the game out of reach with a high-centre point release on the power play.
Coach Olegs Sorokins' boys kept on coming. At 0:59 of the third, Klaucans gave Latvian fans a reason to cheer when he golfed in a juicy rebound to cut the deficit to 5-2. At 9:04, Latvian assistant captain Darels Uljanskis added his first of the tournament, bulging the twine with a long power-play wrister.
Yet despite the spirited chanting and drum-beating from the stands, Latvia would get no closer.
"We have to forget about this game," said Serkins. "Of course, maybe we'll look at the negative parts and positive parts, but overall we'll forget about it, regenerate, and just look ahead. We'll see what happens between Slovakia and Norway and just hope for the best."