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DENMARK 3, NORWAY 0
In front of a raucous home crowd cheering on the host nation, Denmark impressed with a poised 3-0 victory over Norway in a crucial Group B matchup that pulled them ever-closer to a berth in the World Championship quarter-finals.
Patrick Russell may not have had a point, but the Bakersfield Condors forward provided a screen worthy of an assist on the opening goal when Niklas Jenson's powerplay snapshot beat Norwegian goaltender Henrik Haukeland from the point. Special teams were the difference in this one with all three of Denmark's goals coming on the man-advantage, including two from forward Jensen.
Danish goalie Frederik Andersen was solid once again, turning aside all 21 shots for the shutout.
The victory comes on the heels of a character 3-2 victory over the Finns two days prior and places the Danes fourth in Group B, behind only the USA, Canada and Finland.
They'll be right back at it on May 10 against the Koreans with another opportunity to climb the standings and chase a top-four spot and subsequent trip to the quarter-finals.
Denmark's best showings at the tournament have been two eighth-place finishes in 2010 and 2016.
FRANCE 5, AUSTRIA 2
Avoiding relegation has always been the goal for France.
France kept their outside hopes of a quarter-final spot alive with a 5-2 win over Austria, with Oilers defenceman Yohann Auvitu earning an assist for his first point fo the tournament.
"I think we controlled the game overall," Auvitu said post-game in a recap posted on IIHF.com. "We deserved the win. I think that now, with six points at this stage of the tournament, we can say we're safe. So we made our goal."
French 18-year-old Alexandre Texier comlimented pairs of goals from Damien Fleury and Sacha Treille with three assists to make nealry guarantee that France will play in their 12th-straight World Championship next year in Slovakia.
Austria, on the other hand, have their prospects of relegation worsen after the defeat as they stay in seventh place in Group A - one solitary point above Belarus in advance of their bottom-of-the-standings battle on Saturday.
