OAR Thrash Norway in Olympics Ice Hockey 2018 Quarter-Finals

Gill Clark @@gillclarkyFeatured Columnist IFebruary 21, 2018

Russia's Pavel Datsyk (R) fights for the puck with Norway's Kristian Forsberg in the men's quarter-final ice hockey match between Norway and the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung on February 21, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Getty Images

The Olympic Athletes from Russia team cruised to victory in the quarter-finals of the ice hockey at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, with a 6-1 victory over Norway on Wednesday.

The Russians came into the tournament in South Korea as the favourites to clinch the gold medal, and they put in a dominant display as they booked their spot in the last four of the competition.

It was a strong start from the Russian team, with Mikhail Grigorenko opening the scoring midway through the first period. Nikita Gusev added a second, during a power play, before a first goal of the tournament from Vyacheslav Voinov made it 3-0 at the end of the first period.

The Russians also heavily outshot their Norwegian opponents in the first period by 19-2, per the IIHF:

IIHF @IIHFHockey
First period done at Gangneung Hockey Centre, and Team #OAR had a strong start, leading Team #NOR 3-0 and outshooting them 19-2. #PyeongChang2018 #OARvsNOR

A defensive mistake allowed Alexander Bonsaksen to pull one back for Norway, but Sergei Kalinin quickly restored their two-goal lead. Nikita Nesterov then added another as he made it 5-1 at the end of the second period.

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James Ellingworth at the Associated Press said their thoughts had already turned to the semi-final:

James Ellingworth @jellingworth
Russia 5-1 Norway at the end of the second. The Russians already look content to save energy for the semifinal against the Czechs.

However, they still managed a sixth goal, as Grigorenko set up Ivan Telegin to complete the rout in the third period.

BBC reporter Seth Bennett highlighted just how impressive a victory it was:

Seth Bennett @Sethb45
#OAR have been a class above as they cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-1 win over #Nor. 6 different scorers in the game and now only 5 of the 20 players who featured today haven't got a goal @pyeongchang2018 .The #Cze v #OAR final four game should be an incredible spectacle.

Norway simply had no answer to the superior Russian quality, and they also looked jaded from their exploits in beating Slovenia a day earlier to earn their first Olympic quarter-final spot.

The Russian team will now meet the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, after they beat the United States in a shootout to secure a 3-2 win. The Russian team look to have the strongest squad at the tournament and will be eyeing a final spot, but the Czech Republic are yet to taste defeat and will prove a far tougher test than Norway.