HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) – Rick Nash scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:58 left, lifting Canada to a 2-1 victory over upset-minded Norway on Thursday in a qualifying round game at the world hockey championship.

Norway entered as a heavy underdog against the unbeaten Canadians and nearly pulled off a stunner by clogging the neutral zone and playing a tight-checking game.

Nash foiled the plan with a strong individual effort that produced the winner against goalie Pal Grotnes.

“We knew what we were in for,” Nash said. “We didn’t expect it to be that close, but I think it’s a good team-building game for us.”

Norway was already the surprise team of the tournament after its overtime loss to Finland and an upset win over Germany.

Mads Hansen scored Norway’s lone goal on a short-handed breakaway against Columbus’ Pascal Leclaire in the second period.

“We can’t outplay Team Canada,” Hansen said. “We’ve got to destroy them. We’ve got to be on them all the time and then we’ve got to hope for a break.”

The short-handed tally made it 1-1 with just over 26 minutes to play and sent a surge through the Norwegian bench. It just wasn’t enough.

Mike Green had the only other goal for Canada, which seemed out of sync despite putting 53 shots on goal. The Canadians didn’t create enough traffic in front of Grotnes – especially on the power play – and had trouble making crisp passes at times.

“I think there’s always reason for concern in our game,” Canada coach Ken Hitchcock said. “The goalie is the difference-maker in our sport. He can win games, he can steal games.

“There’s no guarantees because of the goaltender.”

Nash released the tension with his highlight-reel goal, then was looking forward to getting some sleep. He, Hitchcock, Leclaire and Jason Chimera had traveled to Columbus on Wednesday for the funeral of Blue Jackets owner John H. McConnell.

“It’s been a long 24 hours,” Nash said.

Norway has beaten Canada only once in 16 tries at this event, a 4-3 upset eight years ago in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“We were hoping again, but it didn’t work out,” Norway captain Tommy Jakobsen said.

Sweden bounced back from a lackluster loss to Switzerland with an 8-1 rout of Denmark on Thursday in Quebec City.

Just 23 hours after its first loss of the tournament, Sweden took the ice with shuffled lines and coasted to victory in its first qualifying round game.

Henrik Lundqvist, who led Sweden to the gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics, played his first game since the New York Rangers were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by Pittsburgh last weekend and made 17 saves.

Team captain Kenny Jonsson, formerly of the New York Islanders, gave Sweden a 1-0 lead just 8:47 in. Calgary’s Marcus Nilson scored his first of the tournament with a slap shot that made it 2-0.

After pushing the lead to 4-0 in the second period, Sweden broke the game open with four goals in the third. Former Minnesota and Islanders forward Mattias Weinhandl had a goal and three assists.

Kasper Degn spoiled Lundqvist’s shutout bid with 5:28 left. Denmark’s Peter Hirch allowed seven goals before being replaced by Patrick Galbraith.

AP-ES-05-08-08 2033EDT