Norway helped its bid for a quarterfinal berth by beating Switzerland 3-2 on Thursday at the World Hockey Championships. Jonas Holos had a goal and an assist for the winners while Mathis Olimb had two assists, helping the Norwegians (5 points) move into a tie for first place with Canada in Group F, though the Canadians have a game in hand. Sweden is next with four points while Switzerland remains tied with the U.S. with three points.
Canada and the United States play Friday.
Norway has now won the last three meetings between the teams at the World Championship, dating back to 1993. Kristian Forsberg's goal early in the third period proved to be the game-winner.
In Thursday's other game, the KHL trio of Sergei Zinoviev, Danis Zaripov, and captain Alexei Morozov led Russia to a 4-3 win against Denmark to open Qualification Round play in Bratislava.
Zinoviev led the way with a hat trick and Zaripov assisted on all three goals. The two were teammates with Ak Bars Kazan for six seasons, up until 2008-09. Their national team linemate, Morozov, added a couple of helpers.
Yevgeni Artyukhin's goal 5:21 into the third period gave the Russians a 4-2 lead and proved to be the game-winner when Nichlas Hardt got his second of the game with 12:3 remaining. Mikkel Boedker of the Phoenix Coyotes' had the Danes' other goal.
Russia now has six points in Group E. The Danes remain at zero, with their chances of advancing to the quarterfinals marginal at best.
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