Olympics men’s hockey: Sweden picks up 4-0 shutout over Norway

Viktor Fasth picked up the first shutout of the Olympics men’s hockey tournament as Sweden blanks Norway, 4-0

Sweden had little trouble with Norway in their first game of group play, picking up a 4-0 victory to start the tournament.

Outshooting Norway 14-1 in the first period, Sweden headed into the locker room with a 2-0 lead. Par Lindholm opened the scoring at 5:29 with a quick wrist shot following a nice setup by Linus Omark. Anton Lander added to the lead with just over four minutes left in the period, tapping in a rebound off a shot by Simon Bertilsson.

Norway had their chance to climb back into the game in the second period, but failed to take advantage of the undisciplined Swedes. Noway outshot Sweden 12-6 in the second thanks to a lengthy five-on-three power play, but could not put the puck past Viktor Fasth.

It looked like Norway had cut the lead in half with 13 minutes remaining in the period, but This Olimb was called for goaltender interference, negating the goal. Moments later, Sweden would score two goals in 22 seconds, putting this one away. The first came from Dennis Everberg, the second by Mikael Wikstrand. Like Lindholm’s first goal, both came off shots from the slot.

Fasth ended up making 17 saves in the shutout victory. Omark had three assists.

Despite an easy victory, many were disappointed that Rasmus Dahlin turned out to be a scratch for Sweden. The likely number one overall pick in upcoming NHL draft has been heavily hyped coming into the tournament, but did not get a chance to showcase himself against Norway.

Highlights

Next: Gary Bettman really screwed up this whole Olympics hockey thing

What’s Next?

Sweden will look for their second win of the tournament against Germany on Friday at 7:10 a.m. ET. While that game is going on, Norway will search for their first goal of the tournament against Finland.