Norway proved an insurmountable obstacle as Slovenia lost their opening game at the Ice Hockey World Championship 1:3 on Saturday.
The Norwegians completely dominated the first period with two early goals and Slovenia were lucky to go into recess only a goal behind when Žiga Jeglič scored in the last minute before time.
In the second period Slovenia staged a recovery and showed some of the same performance that earned it a berth at the next winter Olympics, though it did not succeed in penetrating Norway's defences.
In the third period Norway held steady and deflected the attacks while Mads Hansen sealed the deal in the final seconds with a shot at Slovenia's empty goal.
Slovenia will be looking to earn their first win against Belarus on Sunday, the second of seven games they will play in the preliminary round.
The two last placed teams from both preliminary groups will be relegated to lower-division World Championship.
Source: Slovenia times
