MINSK, Belarus -- From a disallowed goal to a penalty kill in the final minutes, Team Canada didnt enjoy a lot of easy moments in beating Norway 3-2. But thats exactly how coach Dave Tippett wanted it, as his team got the regulation victory it needed Tuesday to finish first in Group A at the world hockey championship. "We played well, and I like that we got pushed right to the end," Tippett said. "If it wouldve been a 5-1 or 6-1 game, maybe you get into bad habits, you just kind of float through it. This pushed us as a team, and the harder you get pushed as a team the better you get in a short amount of time. I like the fact that we won the game, obviously, but I like the fact that it was a close game." It was close because Norway took the lead, and then Canada had a would-be goal by Kevin Bieksa waved off for goaltender interference because Jonathan Huberdeau had his stick in the crease. And it remained close even after Joel Ward scored the second of his two goals, the eventual game winner, midway through the third because Norway didnt go away. Canada outshot Norway 42-16 and only beat goaltender Steffen Soberg three times, on Wards two on the power play and Mark Scheifeles at even strength. Meanwhile, James Reimer gave up goals to Anders Bastiansen and Mads Hansen that came about from defensive miscues but still improved to 3-0-1 in the tournament. "This is one of those games where you really just have to grind it out and battle because they protect so well, they collapse so well, and sometimes you just pass the puck around the outside but you cant really get to the good scoring areas," Reimer said. "I think were just happy to grind this one out." Canada, which finished the preliminary round with 18 points and a 6-0-1 record, will face Finland in Group B in the quarter-final round Thursday. Along the way, the Canadians outscored opponents 28-13, and their only blemish was a shootout loss to France. Tippett seemed pleased with his teams progression to this point. "Most of our players didnt play for three weeks and as you get back into game shape, your game starts to elevate," he said. "Every game our players continue to pick up a step." Finishing first in the group assured Canada of avoiding powerhouse Russia until a potential gold-medal game Sunday. The United States, led by Tyler Johnson and Seth Jones, could wind up on Canadas side of the bracket, pending the result of Russia-Belarus on Tuesday night. The chance to pass Sweden for first place almost slipped away Tuesday against Norway at Chizhovka-Arena. Canada fell behind on a power-play goal by Bastiansen and then had to overcome some frustration later in the first. It looked like Bieksa scored a power-play goal at the 15:01 mark, but it was waved off apparently because Huberdeau had his stick in the crease. Tippett said the referee wouldnt come over to explain the decision, which seemed to stem from the IIHF rule that an attacking player cannot have even his stick blade in the crease when the puck goes into the net. "I didnt think my skate was in the crease. I guess it was the stick," Huberdeau said. "I dont know the call, but it was the call and you cant do anything. Its not a big deal." It wouldve been a much bigger deal had it cost Canada the chance to win in regulation. But with seven power plays, including five after Bieksas goal was disallowed, there were plenty of opportunities to keep it from being the reason for a loss. "We were not going to let one call ruin the whole day for us," said Ward, who now has six goals and is tied with teammate Cody Hodgson and Frances Antoine Roussel for second in the tournament behind Russias Viktor Tikhonov. Canada managed to grind away at Norway enough, and Tippett had special praise for the fourth line of Ward, Scheifele and Sean Monahan. "We had lots of opportunities, but (the Norwegians) kept the game very tight," Tippett said. "They did a good job penalty-killing against us, and I was proud of our guys to just keep pushing, not get frustrated and hopefully wed find the chances we needed to win." Once they did, the Canadians could start to look ahead to elimination play. "Get some playoffs going here," Reimer said. "To get going to the quarter-finals here, I think were jelling well as a team. We have some good chemistry. Hopefully things bode well in the playoffs." NOTES -- Alex Burrows missed his second straight game with a charley horse suffered in a knee-on-knee hit Friday against Italy. Tippett said he skated each of the past two days, would practise with the team the next time it was on the ice and would be ready to play in Thursdays quarter-final game. ... Reimer approached Soberg, who made 39 saves on 42 shots, after the game to ask why he wasnt playing in the NHL. Soberg was a 2011 fourth-round pick of the Washington Capitals and refused to come to North America to play for the WHLs Swift Current Broncos, opting instead to continue playing in Norway. The Capitals lost Sobergs rights last summer, making him an NHL free agent. Patrick Robinson Saints Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. DeMario Davis Jersey .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own. http://www.authenticfootballshopsaints.com/Youth-DeMario-Davis-Elite-Jersey/ . The win puts the final playoff berth in Group A in question. If the Czechs beat Slovakia on Tuesday, they will go through. If they lose, Germany will get the last quarter-final berth. Kurt Coleman Saints Jersey . Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Marcus Davenport Jersey . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina.MINNEAPOLIS -- Kyle Gibson allowed one run in seven innings, Brian Dozier and Josmil Pinto homered, and the Minnesota Twins held on to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4 Friday night. Dozier and Trevor Plouffe each hit RBI doubles in the third inning against Chris Young (3-1) to give the Twins an early lead on their way to their fifth win in their last six home games. Gibson (4-3) hadnt earned a victory since winning his first three starts this season. He struck out four and recorded 13 groundball outs to lower his ERA to 4.20. Robinson Cano reached base for the 24th consecutive game and broke the Mariners 21-inning scoreless drought with an RBI double in the fifth. Dustin Ackleys triple made it 5-3 in the eighth. Mike Zunino followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 5-4, but the rally ended when reliever Casey Fien struck out James Jones looking. Eduardo Escobars RBI single that made it 5-1 in the sixth proved to be the game-winner. Glen Perkins, who blew his second save Thursday, stranded Michael Saunders at third after a leadoff single in the ninth. Corey Hart popped out and Perkins made a nice play coming off the mound to throw out Justin Smoak at first for his 11th save. Young came into the game 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his last three starts, but was cooled off by a Twins lineup that has totalled at least 10 hits in five straight games.dddddddddddd The 6-foot-10 right-hander allowed five runs on 10 hits -- including a season-high seven extra base hits -- in seven innings. Seattles 21 scoreless innings streak tied a season high set April 12-14 and was nine innings shy of the club record. The Twins have now won 4,224 games in Minnesota, one more than when the franchise was in Washington. Five of Minnesotas last six wins have been by one run. NOTES: Twins OF Sam Fuld said he felt better after having a setback Wednesday in his recovery from a concussion sustained two weeks ago. ... Injured Mariners lefty James Paxton (strained back) will throw two innings in a simulated game and right-hander Taijuan Walker (sore shoulder) will throw 45 pitches in a bullpen session on Saturday. ... Left-hander Roenis Elias (3-2, 3.69) makes his ninth major league start for the Mariners on Saturday afternoon. He will face Samuel Deduno (0-2, 3.64), who is making his third start since joining the rotation after Mike Pelfrey went on the DL with a groin strain. ... Pelfrey made his first rehab start for Triple-A Rochester on Friday and allowed one earned run in five innings. ... Injured Twins OF Josh Willingham (hand) was 0 for 4 in his first rehab start in Rochester. 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