TAMPERE, Finland – It’s the seventh and final game of the preliminary round here today for the U.S. Men’s National Team as it battles Norway at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship. Opening faceoff is set for 4:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) and the game can be seen live on NHL Network. Live game statistics can be found here. 

The U.S. and Norway are meeting for the 21st time today. Team USA has won all but one of the first 20 contests between the two teams, including a 2-1 victory in the world championship last year. The only Norway win in the series came on March 9, 1951, in a 3-0 triumph.

Jeremy Swayman has played the last three games in the world championship and is the expected starter today. He has a 2-1 record with a 0.99 goals against average and .946 save percentage.

Team USA has won four of its six games to date in the world championship, with victories over Latvia, Austria, Great Britain and Sweden. The U.S. has outshot all six of its opponents in the tournament.

Norway has two wins to its credit through the first six preliminary round games including over Great Britain in a shootout (4-3) and Austria (5-3) and suffered losses to Finland (5-0), Latvia (3-2), Czechia (4-1) and Sweden (7-1).

PLAYOFF UPDATE

The U.S. enters play today with 10 points and will finish the preliminary round fourth in Group B. Team USA will face Switzerland, the top seed in Group A, in the quarterfinals at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland, on Thursday. 

Game results, standings and statistics for the tournament can be found here.