The win gives Norway five points and moves the team into a tie for third place with Sweden in a crowded Group A standings. The Kazakhs remain stalled at two points in last place with Latvia.

Defenceman Jonas Holos was a rock for the winners. He logged 31:07 of ice time, was a +3, earned an assist, and took five of his team's 43 shots. 

Ken Andre Olimb (Norway) and Nigel Dawes (Kazakhstan) each had a goal and assist for their respective teams.

"It was a very nice game for us and a really important victory," said defenceman Johannes Johanneson. "It was nice to get a goal, but the big thing is that we can really compete in this group now."

Indeed, Johanneson gave Norway the early lead when his point shot went all the way past a screened Kolesnik at 3:24. The goalie made a huge left-pad save off Andreas Martinsen just a short time later.

The Kazakhs tied the score on a nice play between the two Canadians. Dustin Boyd took the puck down the left side as Nigel Dawes headed to the slot, stick on the ice. Boyd saucered a nice pass to his compatriot, and Dawes snapped a one-timer through the five-hole of Lars Haugen at 7:00.

A tame start to the second period gave way to end-to-end action and three goals. The Norwegians took advantage of a lost stick by defenceman Vyacheslav Tryasunov. A point shot from Mattias Norstebo hit a cluster of bodies in front, and the puck fell to Ken Andre Olimb, who snapped  aquick shot over Kolesnik’s glove at 13:04.

Oddly, the Kazakhs scored a similar goal to tie the game. Mats Rosseli Olsen lost his stick during a penalty kill and Brandon Bochenski fired a shot to the far side at 15:47 to make it 2-2.

This was the moment when Kazkhstan played its best. After the tying goal the team had relentless pressure in the Norway end for about two minutes, but try as they might, they couldn't get the go-ahead goal.

And so it was that Norway took its third lead of the night when Mathis Olimb brought the puck to the net and outwaited everyone before snapping a shot to the back side at 18:17.

Mats Zuccarello scored into an empty net with 2:23 remaining to ensure victory.

Kazakhstan is right back at it tomorrow, playing Sweden in the evening game. Norway gets a day off before an afternoon game with the Czechs on Thursday.

"We’ve got a really tough match coming up against the Czechs," acknowledged Ken Andre Olimb. "We knew that the Russians, the Czechs, and the Swedes would be better than the other teams here but, like we’ve seen, in this group so far every team is taking points off each other so we can go there with some hope."