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Instant Reaction: the Americans overwhelm Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off
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Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Feb 13, 2025, 23:02 ESTUpdated: Feb 17, 2025, 22:59 EST
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For Finland, there was good news and bad news in Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off clash with the United States. The good news was that they scored first and kept the game close on the scoreboard… mostly. But the Americans scored six unanswered goals, including three early in the third period, to take over the game.
The Americans beat Finland by a 6-1 score.

The rundown

Just as everyone predicted, Finland defended fairly well early and managed to score off the rush. Blueliner Henri Jokiharju jumped into the rush and beating Connor Hellebuyck to give the Finns a 1-0 lead.
But a few minutes later, the Americans evened things up, as Brady Tkachuk chipped a puck on net from an odd angle, but the puck glanced off Juuse Saros’ pad and into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
First period shots were 13-7 USA. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 13-2 USA (high-danger chances were 8-1 USA).
The second period was fairly even, with the Finns defending most of the time.
Finally, the Americans grabbed the lead late in the period. Matt Boldy redirected a Brock Faber point shot past Saros to make it 2-1 USA.
Second period shots were 7-6 USA. Five-on-five scoring chances were 10-6 USA (high-danger chances were 5-2 USA).
The dam burst for the Americans offensively in the opening minutes of the third period.
The Americans had a power play carry over from the end of the second period. Matthew Tkachuk threw a puck on net from above the circles. It may have glanced off the stick shaft of Niko Mikkola, but either way the shot eluded Saros to give the Americans a 3-1 lead.
Off the very next face-off, the Americans went back into the Finnish zone and scored off the rush. Jake Guentzel finished a passing play with a shot that beat Saros five-hole to make it 4-1.
A few minutes after that, Brady Tkachuk made a nice play in-close off the rush. He received a pass and quickly went back-hand on Saros to make it 5-1.
Later in the period, Matthew Tkachuk scored again, jamming a rebound past Saros to make it 6-1.
From there, the Americans threw it into cruise control and skated to a 6-1 win.
Third period shots were 12-6 USA. Five-on-five scoring chances were 4-3 USA (high-danger chances were 3-2 USA).

This and that

Here’s how the United States looked:
Connor – Eichel – M.Tkachuk
Guentzel – Matthews – Hughes
B.Tkachuk – Miller – Boldy
Nelson – Trocheck – Larkin
Werenski – McAvoy
Slavin – Fox
Hanifin – Faber
Hellebuyck
(Oettinger)
Scratches: Swayman, Sanderson, Kreider
Kyle Connor and Brady Tkachuk switched lines in the second period.
Here’s how Finland looked:
Lehkonen – Barkov – Rantanen
Hintz – Aho – Laine
Luustarinen – Lundell – Granlund
Teravainen – Haula – Armia
Mikkola – Lindell
Vaakanainen – Matinpalo
Maatta – Jokiharju
Saros
(Lankinen)
Scratches: Luukkonen, Valimaki, Kakko

Up next

Finland (0-1-0, 0 points) plays Sweden on Saturday.
The USA (1-0-0, 3 points) plays Canada on Saturday.
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