"What we were missing was a real leading line, with scoring punch," said Bäckman.

"Scoring punch" in Slovenian is spelled "David Rodman". He is today a national hero, scorer of both goals in this hugely dramatic 2-1 win.

"I am speechless," said a very emotional Rodman immediately after the game. "Nobody expected this from us, we came here as the third-ranked team, we have beaten both the favourites and we are going to the Olympics."

Behind him in the mixed-zone, team captain Tomaz Razingar was crying out of pure joy.

"Our team is like a family," he said a moment later. "We play for each other and that's why we can beat teams who have more talent."

Very early into the game, one could see signs that this would probably not go the way the Danish team and the absolutely packed SE Arena expected.

Slovenia could have gone ahead early, if not for goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Andersen made two splendid saves at the six minute mark of the opening period when the Slovenes buzzed his net and created multiple chances. But the Anaheim-Norfolk keeper denied Robert Sabolic and Rok Tikar with world-class stops.

Jan Urbas, Slovenia’s best player in the opening day win against Belarus, had another great opportunity when he skated in all alone on Andersen, but the Dane’s impressive size and calm made Urbas shoot the puck over the crossbar.

Denmark had, just like in Thursday’s opener against Ukraine, difficulties to get things going offensively. Patrik Bjorkstrand had the best chance in the seventh minute when his shot from the right circle went past goalie Robert Kristan but the puck hit the goaltender’s skate for a lucky bounce.

The boisterous crowd fell silent four minutes into the second frame when David Rodman walked in from the left and almost effortlessly flipped a backhander past a maybe somewhat too lax Anderson. Seconds prior to that, Rodman made a neat move eluding two Danish checkers in one swing.

"I was looking for a pass, but when I saw nobody in front of me I just went for to net," said Rodman.

"That's Rodman," said coach Kopitar. "A pure goal scorer, our difference maker."

Slovenian joy lasted all of 43 seconds. Julian Jakobsen won the faceoff in the offensive zone, Nicklas Jensen teed it up for Nichlas Hardt, who blasted it high past Robert Kristan. 1-1 and the crowd was quickly back into it.

David Rodman scored his second of the game and third of the tournament moments after Morten Green failed to capitalize on a very good opportunity in front of Kristan.

The play turned the other way, and on one of several Slovenian odd-man rushes, Rodman ripped the shot to the near upper corner, with 3:32 left of the second period.

"This time I wasn't looking for the pass, I wanted to shoot and the puck went where I wanted it to go," said Rodman.

Despite that the Slovenes were outshot 26-18 after two periods, there was never a sense of any territorial advantage for the home team. To the contrary, Slovenia always seemed dangerous on the counter attack, often rushing down in two-on-ones and three-on-twos and this trend continued into the last period.

Yes, Denmark had most of the shots, but most of them came from difficult angles and stressed situations. David Rodman’s brother Marcel had a wide open net for what would have been 3-1 with four minutes left, but Andersen made yet another incredible save with his right pad.

Coach Per Bäckman took a time-out with 2:08 left, but with the face-off in their zone. He managed to pull the goalie with one minute left and with 12 seconds remaining on the clock, Nicholas Hardt rang the puck off the post.

That was the last sound of a missed Olympic opportunity for Denmark. For Slovenia, the adventure has just started.

"A great success, not only for our sport, but for our nation," said Matjaz Kopitar.

Click here for scores, stats and photos