Both Norway and Estonia had to win in order to advance directly to the quarter-finals. After the 4-2 (3-0, 0-1, 1-1) victory, Norway still has a chance to skip the play-offs.

Norway immediately showed their eagerness to fight for a ticket to the quarter-finals. At 3.27 into the match, Ole Martin Skau Jansson nailed 1-0 after a beautiful play by Norway. Goals number two and three, scored by Glen Evensen and Christoffer Nilsson, were soon to follow.  

In the second period Norway kept on running the show, and Estonia had trouble getting any real chances. When they finally got one though, Andreas Woiduma put the ball behind Norwegian goalkeeper Christer Rönnmark with a cool backhand.

Norway scored 4-1 early in the third period, and soon after got the chance to play power play five against three. It would have been the end of the match, had they scored. Instead, Roman Pass took advantage of a badly timed substitution by the Norwegians, and scored 4-2. Estonia kept chasing more goals, also remove their goalkeeper the last two minutes of the game, but without success. 

Norway's victory means that the dream of direct advancement to the quarter-finals is still alive. 

Full match statistics here. 

Photo: Rasmus Tynander.