HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - Canada reached the semi-finals for the sixth-straight year as Derek Roy scored three goals en route to an 8-2 victory over Norway at the World Ice Hockey Championships on Wednesday.
With the win, defending champion Canada extends its win streak at the tournament to 16 games, including a perfect 9-0 record in 2007 at the Moscow Worlds.
Canada, who will face Sweden on Friday, is trying to capture their 25th title and become the first country to win on home ice in 22 years.
Rick Nash, with two, Jonathan Toews, Dany Heatley and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for Canada, who won gold in 2003, 2004 and 2007.
Morten Ask and Mathis Olimb scored for Norway, who were making their first appearance in the quarter-finals since 2000 when the current playoff format was introduced.
For the first time in the 100-year history of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Canada is the host team for the men's championship. The two semi-finalists from Halifax now travel to Quebec City to join two other quarter-final winners for the semi-finals, bronze medal and gold medal game.
With no Eric Staal in the lineup, Canada's second line was not clicking, so the third line of Roy, Toews and Shane Doan stepped up against Norway.
Staal skipped Wednesday's game so he could return home to attend the funeral of his grandfather. Staal, who scored four goals against the Germans, is expected to rejoin the club in Quebec for Friday's Sweden game.
Without Staal, the Toews, Roy and Doan combined in the second period for three unanswered goals in a seven-minute span, including a pair by Roy to give Canada a commanding 5-2 lead.
Norway kept the game close for the first 25 minutes before running into penalty trouble.
Mathis Olimb scored 5:32 into the second to tie it 2-2. Olimb took a pass out front and blasted a wrist shot over the shoulder of goaltender Cam Ward who went down early on the play.
Toews scored just over four minutes later to regain the lead for Canada. The Chicago Blackhawks forward curled out from the right boards and blasted a wrist shot through traffic and past Norway's goalie Pal Grotnes.
The 20-year-old Toews helped set up Canada's next goal. Working the puck out from the right corner he fed Roy who beat Grotnes low to the stick side to make it 4-2.
Roy added his second of the game with 3:10 left as the Norwegian defence got caught running around in their own end, allowing Roy to shoot through a screen and beat Grotnes and the rout was on.
