Norway stuns Canada in OT in bronze medal game to win its first ice hockey worlds medal

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ZURICH (AP) — Norway stunned Canada 3-2 in overtime of the bronze medal game to capture its first ice hockey world championship medal on Sunday.

Noah Steen scored the winner 3:32 into overtime. The previous best result for Norway was a fourth-place finish in 1951.

In a wild ending, Canada was 2-0 down when it pulled netminder Jet Greaves. Robert Thomas then scored from the slot to reduce the deficit with 1:16 remaining in the final period with an unassisted goal.

With eight seconds to go, captain Macklin Celebrini and Ryan O'Reilly set up Thomas for his second to tie it at 2-2, forcing overtime.

Earlier, Emilio Pettersen gave Norway a 1-0 lead in the opening period and Stian Solberg added another with a deflected shot in the second. Goaltender Henrik Haukeland stopped 44 shots.

Greaves made 21 saves for Canada.

Canada had to settle for the bronze medal game after a 4-2 upset defeat to Finland in the semifinals on Saturday.

The Canadians have come up short at the worlds since they won their last and record 28th title in 2023.

They finished fourth in 2024 and were stunned 2-1 by Denmark in the quarterfinals last year.

The worlds ended in disappointment for Canada again this year despite a lineup that included teenage sensation Celebrini as captain and NHL great Sidney Crosby in addition to several established NHL stars, including O’Reilly, John Tavares and Mark Scheifele.

Canada managed to win all of its group games, including a 6-5 victory over Norway in overtime, and eliminated defending champion U.S. in the quarterfinals.

But Finland, led by Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, proved too good in the semis.

Switzerland and Finland meet in the final later Sunday.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports