How Finland stunned Sweden with huge OT win: takeaways

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading


MONTREAL — Sweden vs. Finland never disappoints.

In a back-and-forth contest, at least in terms of lead changes the first two periods, the latest chapter between these two border rivals ended in a 4-3 win for Finland, with 2011 world champion Mikael Granund scoring 1:49 into overtime when he fired a shot off a two-on-one past Linus Ullmark.

Recently traded from San Jose to Dallas, Granlund scored after Kevin Lankinen made two big saves in overtime, one on Mika Zibanejad and the other on Adrian Kempe after the Los Angeles Kings forward cut to the net behind Granlund.

Zibanejad, Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson scored for Sweden, while Anton Lundell, Mikko Rantanen and Aleksander Barkov scored regulation-time goals for Finland. In his home arena, Canadiens sniper Patrik Laine had two assists, and Rantanen made a tremendous spinning pass for the eventual “third assist” on Barkov’s tying goal.

The game marked the eighth meeting between Finland and Sweden at an NHL international tournament, all in the round robin. Six of the eight contests have been decided by a margin of two or fewer goals.

The countries met in the Olympic gold-medal game in 2006 in Torino with Sweden edging Finland by a goal. The two countries have also played for gold four times at the World Championship, each winning twice (Finland: 2011 and 1995; Sweden: 1998 and 1992).

This was the appetizer for what we’ve all been waiting for: a Canada-United States, Saturday-night showdown at 8 p.m. ET.

The United States will clinch a berth in the 4 Nations Face-Off final Thursday night in Boston if it beats Canada in regulation.

Canada, Finland and Sweden each have two points. Finland had the head-to-head tiebreaker on Sweden courtesy of its win Saturday, while Canada has the head-to-head tiebreaker on Sweden courtesy of its overtime win Wednesday.

Lankinen takes No. 1 gig from Saros

Team USA is unmatched with its goaltending depth and stability in this event. It’s Connor Hellebuyck’s net unless he gets injured and, if that happens, Jake Oettinger is not only next in line, but arguably the second-best goalie in the tournament.

Further proof of this? Seeing Juuse Saros on the bench for Finland in its rivalry matchup with Sweden.

Qver the past few years, Saros has been regular in the Vezina Trophy conversation but has struggled this season — his .899 save percentage the lowest in his nine-year NHL career. Now, what’s happening in front of him as far as the Nashville Predators’ overall team struggles is part of it, sure, but still. He could be feeling the burden of that eight-year extension signed last summer, a contract paying him $7.74 million a year that doesn’t kick in until next season.

Speaking of contracts, Kevin Lankinen needs one as a pending UFA for the Vancouver Canucks. He’s been a terrific story this season, signed late in the offseason amid health concerns surrounding Thatcher Demko. Finland giving Lankinen the start against Sweden marked a big moment for him.

“Kevin has played very well for us when we needed him to play well,’’ Canucks GM Patrik Allvin said via text message Saturday. “Very happy to see him getting an opportunity to start today!’’

The opening goal given up to Zibanejad wasn’t a great one, but overall Lankinen was solid Saturday. He made a couple key saves in OT, had no chance on Dahlin’s rebound goal and got beat by a world-class snipe that was vintage Karlsson.

The ‘Gus Bus’ parked

Many Swedish media members before the 4 Nations tournament thought Linus Ullmark would be tabbed as the starter, but head coach Sam Hallam went with Filip Gustavsson instead. The Swedish coaches might have hesitated on starting Ullmark because he played only two games for Ottawa before the tournament after missing six weeks with injury. It’s likely the Swedish coaching staff wanted Ullmark to benefit from a few extra days of practice before using him.

The reality is that Sweden had the goalie rankings in this fashion when rosters were announced on Dec. 4: 1) Jacob Markstrom, 2) Ullmark and 3) Gustavsson.

But when Markstrom was injured with the Devils, Gustavsson seized on the opportunity with Minnesota. In the 4 Nations Face-Off opener, he was sensational in an overtime loss to Team Canada. But that A-plus performance was downgraded to a C-minus Saturday, pulled after the first period, giving up two goals on four shots.

The second goal he gave up late in the first period wasn’t a great one. Rantanen half-fanned on a shot that still found a way through with Gustavsson off his post.

Hallam said after the game that the decision to pull Gustavsson was due to illness.

But could it be Ullmark’s net now the rest of the way? One would think he may start Monday night against Team USA in Boston, which would be a homecoming for the former Boston Bruins netminder.

Like a Panthers practice drill

If this was a two-on-one drill in South Florida, let’s just say, Gustav Forsling didn’t play it right and coach Paul Maurice would have let him know.

After Zibanejad’s early goal, the Finns tied the score 1-1 during an all-Florida Panthers two-on-one spurred by Dahlin’s ill-advised stray up the boards in the offensive zone.

Eetu Luostarinen, the Panthers forward, teed up his Florida and Finnish teammate, Lundell — aka Baby Barkov — for a one-timer howitzer that sailed past a sliding Gustavsson.

Vintage Karlsson

Pittsburgh Penguins Erik Karlsson and Team Sweden Erik Karlsson are evidently two different things. Like, night and day.

Some observers before the event even thought Sweden should dress Rasmus Andersson over Karlsson, given the excellent season the Calgary Flames defender is having — and, well, the excellent season Karlsson was not having in Pittsburgh. That was never a realistic discussion. Karlsson is a legacy player who was among the first six named last June by Sweden. There’s just no way Hallam was doing that.

Karlsson had another impactful game Saturday, after looking terrific against Canada in the opener. His second-period goal, on an absolute gem of a wrist shot, was the Karlsson of old. His pace and vision throughout the game were impressive.

International hockey has a rich history of players finding their very best when donning their national uniforms. Karlsson has shown time and again he’s that guy for Sweden.

 

(Photo of Mikael Granlund celebrating his OT winner: Vitor Munhoz / 4NFO / World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images)





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About The Author

Avatar of Eleanor Larson
Eleanor Larson is a writer for Kochify The News. She writes about politics, health, business, and finance. She has been a writer for over 25 years and is currently working on her second book.

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