After a strong first period and shaky second period, USA pulled away with three late third period goals to defeat Norway 6-1. The Americans outshot Norway 39-11, largely because they’re just a much better team and also partly due to the fact that Norway was very undisciplined, taking just under nine minutes of total penalty time.
USA Pulls Away Late, Beats Norway 6-1
The top US offensive players shined in this one, with Brian Rafalski scoring two goals late, Patrick Kane scoring in the second period and Phil Kessel starting things off in the first. Zach Parise, arguably the best pure scorer on the USA squad, also picked up two assists in the victory. Unlike Tuesday against Switzerland where the secondary scoring did all the work, the Americans demonstrated a nice balance today on the score sheet.
It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch and there’s plenty for this team to work on before they face off against Canada on Sunday. There were positives, especially when you recognize how the chemistry seemed to be much better today than it was on Tuesday. But the USA was sloppy today all over the ice and against a better team like Canada, they probably would not have won.
We’ll see if they improve in time.
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