Henrique scores twice, Canada beats Norway 4-2 for first win at worlds

RIGA, Latvia — Captain Adam Henrique had two goals and an assist Wednesday as Canada picked up its first win at the world hockey championship with a 4-2 victory over Norway.

Connor Brown had a goal and two assists and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for Canada, which improved to 1-3.

Thomas Valkvae-Olsen and Mats Roselli-Olsen scored for Norway (1-3).

Darcy Kuemper made 13 saves for Canada. Henrik Haukeland stopped 38 shots for Norway.

The win moved Canada into a tie for sixth place in Group B with Norway at three points.

Canada has never failed to make the playoffs at the world championship. Its worst finish was eighth in 1992.

Facing a must-win situation, Brown got Canada on the board early with a goal 22 seconds into the game.

Henrique’s power-play goal midway through the period put the Canadians up 2-0.

But a Canadian team that has had trouble catching a break saw that lead evaporate in the second period when Valkvae-Olsen and Roselli-Olsen scored 80 seconds apart.

Mangiapane put Canada back in front with a goal at 14:41of the second, and Henrique capped the scoring with a short-handed goal midway through the third.

Germany led Group B with nine points, followed by Latvia, Finland and Kazakhstan at seven. The top four teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.

Canada’s next game is Thursday against Kazakhstan. The Canadians then play winless Italy before finishing the round-robin against 2019 champion Finland.

In other scores Wednesday, it was: Russia 3 Denmark 0; Kazakhstan 3 Germany 2; and Britain 4 Belarus 3.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2021.

The Canadian Press