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Instant Reaction: Scrappy Finns beat Sweden in overtime at 4 Nations Face-Off
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Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Feb 15, 2025, 16:29 ESTUpdated: Feb 17, 2025, 22:59 EST
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When the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced, you could be forgiven if you were worried about how Finland would fare at the event. On paper, they seemed out-matched. Heck, in Thursday’s opener against the United States they hung in there, but were obviously out-matched.
Well, on Saturday, they not only hung in there against Sweden, but the scrappy Finns refused to go away quietly in a 4-3 overtime victory over their Nordic neighbours.

The rundown

Midway through the first period, Sweden struck first, with Mika Zibanejad jumping on a loose puck in the slot that had been swatted away from a Swedish teammate by a Finnish defender. Zibanejad beat Kevin Lankinen to make it 1-0 Sweden.
A little later, though, Finland answered back off the rush. Anton Lundell converted a feed from Eetu Luustarinen and beat Filip Gustavsson to make it 1-1.
In the dying seconds of the first period, on a power play, Finland took the lead. Patrik Laine made a gorgeous cross-zone pass to Mikko Rantanen, who beat Gustavsson to make it 2-1 Finland.
First period shots were 8-4 Sweden. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 8-5 Sweden (high-danger chances were 1-0 Sweden).
Sweden replaced Gustavsson with Linus Ullmark for the second period. (Following the game, Sweden’s coach indicated it was due to illness.)
Sweden tied the game five minutes into the second period, as Rasmus Dahlin jumped on a rebound off a cycle play. That made it 2-2.
A few minutes later, William Nylander made a gorgeous pass to Erik Karlsson, and Karlsson blasted the puck past Lankinen to give Sweden a 3-2 lead.
But late in the second, Finland tied it up, as captain Aleksander Barkov converted on a back-door redirect of a shot from Olli Maatta (that Kaapo Kakko also got a stick on) to make it 3-3.
Second period shots were 10-7 Finland. Five-on-five scoring chances were 7-5 Finland (high-danger chances were 3-1 Finland).
Both sides had chances but neither could score in the third period.
Third period shots were 7-6 Sweden. Five-on-five scoring chances were 5-2 Finland (high-danger chances were 1-0 Finland).
This game was off to overtime, but it didn’t last terribly long. 1:49 into extra time, Lankinen made a stop on a Swedish scoring chance and the Finns grabbed the loose puck and headed up ice. Mikael Granlund had some passing options on the rush, but opted to shoot, beating Ullmark five-hole to give Finland a 4-3 overtime win.
Overtime shots were 2-1 Sweden.

This and that

Here’s how Sweden skated:
Rakell – Zibanejad – Nylander
Forsberg – Pettersson – Kempe
Bratt – Eriksson Ek – Raymond
Arvidsson – Lindholm – Nyquist
Hedman – Brodin
Ekholm – Karlsson
Forsling – Dahlin
Gustavsson
(Ullmark)
Scratches: Ersson, Andersson, Carlsson
Here’s how Finland looked:
Lehkonen – Barkov – Rantanen
Hintz – Aho – Granlund
Luustarinen – Lundell – Laine
Teravainen – Haula – Kakko
Mikkola – Lindell
Vaakanainen – Matinpalo
Maatta – Jokiharju
Lankinen
(Saros)
Scratches: Luukkonen, Valimaki, Armia

Up next

Finland (1-1-0, 2 points) plays Canada on Monday.
Sweden (0-0-2, 2 points) plays the United States on Monday.
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