Mikael Granlund scores the game-winner in overtime as Finland edges Sweden in a thrilling battle at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Mikael Granlund had options. He could have passed to Aleksander Barkov or Niko Mikkola on a 3-on-1 break. Instead, he chose to take matters into his own hands—and it was the perfect decision.
Granlund fired a shot from the right face-off circle, and 1:49 into overtime, the puck found the back of the net. With that goal, Finland secured a dramatic 4-3 victory over Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday, keeping their tournament hopes alive. It was Finland’s first-ever overtime goal in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I finally shot one of those,” Granlund said. “I’m glad it went in. Obviously, it was a tight game all around. Great job for us.”
Finland, now 0-1-0-1 in the tournament, had trailed 3-2 in the second period but clawed back with goals from Anton Lundell, Mikko Rantanen, and Barkov. Patrik Laine contributed two assists, and Kevin Lankinen, making his first start after backing up Juuse Saros in a 6-1 loss to the United States, stopped 21 shots.
The win moved Finland into a tie for second place in the tournament standings with Canada. Both teams have two points from overtime victories, after Canada fell 3-1 in regulation to the United States earlier in the day. More importantly, the victory ensured that all four teams in the tournament remain in contention when they play at TD Garden in Boston on Monday for a spot in the championship game on February 20. A regulation loss would have eliminated Finland.
“It’s always great to beat Sweden,” Granlund said. “Those games are fun to play. There’s so many people in Finland, in Sweden watching these games. It’s great to come out on top, and at the same time, we are alive in this tournament. Everything is in our own hands.”
For Sweden, it was déjà vu. Just days after losing 4-3 in overtime to Canada, they suffered another heartbreak. Mika Zibanejad, Rasmus Dahlin, and Erik Karlsson found the net for Sweden (0-0-2-0), but it wasn’t enough.
Linus Ullmark took over in goal at the start of the second period, making 15 saves in relief of Filip Gustavsson, who was pulled after allowing two goals on four shots in the opening frame. Sweden’s coach, Sam Hallam, revealed that Gustavsson wasn’t feeling well after the first period, prompting the goalie switch.
Karlsson admitted Sweden didn’t play up to their standards.
“I don’t think today we played as good as we were hoping to,” Karlsson said. “I don’t think that we reached the standards that we have set on ourselves in that room. Finland played a great game. They capitalized on a lot of loose pucks and created a lot of offense through their transition, and when they got their opportunities, they scored some goals. Good for them. They played a [good] game.
“Overall, though, I don’t think that we’re too satisfied with the way that we went through the 60-plus minutes.”
Sweden did, however, have a much stronger start than in their previous game against Canada. Zibanejad opened the scoring at 8:35 of the first period, pouncing on a Finland defensive-zone turnover and firing a shot from between the circles.
“We started the game the way we wanted to and got paid for it,” Hallam said.
But Finland responded quickly. Just 2:23 later, Lundell finished off a 2-on-1 with Eetu Luostarinen, beating Gustavsson to make it 1-1.
“I think we give up a really simple situation to Finland’s first goal, and I think the game changed a bit there,” Hallam said. “We were playing confident, playing quick, finding good ways with the puck. After that, I think Finland got a bit of hope, a bit of jump in their game.”
Finland’s power play then struck late in the period. After Victor Hedman was called for tripping Sebastian Aho at 19:34, Rantanen capitalized just 12 seconds later, scoring off a pass from Laine that barely fluttered past Gustavsson.
“The pass on that power-play goal, that’s an elite pass,” Granlund said of Laine’s setup.
Sweden found their footing in the second period. Dahlin tied the game at 2-2 at 5:06, finishing a play that started with Lucas Raymond’s shot from the point. Joel Eriksson Ek managed to slide the puck across to Dahlin, who buried it.
Karlsson then gave Sweden a 3-2 lead at 10:32, finishing a 3-on-2 rush with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from William Nylander.
But Finland responded yet again. Barkov deflected a pass in front of the net at 17:05 to make it 3-3. The play started with Rantanen’s spin-o-rama pass to Olli Maatta, who fired a shot toward the net. The puck bounced off Kaapo Kakko’s stick before deflecting off Barkov’s stick and into the net.
That was Kakko’s first shift with Barkov and Rantanen after replacing Artturi Lehkonen on that line. The adjustment paid off immediately.
“He started really well, so that was the one reason why we needed to put him on the first line,” Pennanen said of Kakko. “Some fresh legs and he can win the battles, and as we saw, he can go to the net. That was one change we needed.”
The third period was evenly matched, but Pennanen was pleased with how Finland limited Sweden’s high-quality chances.
Sweden, however, came close to ending it early in overtime. Just six seconds into the extra frame, Lankinen had to make a key right pad save on Zibanejad. Moments later, Adrian Kempe had another prime opportunity, but Lankinen’s left skate kept the puck out. Mikkola then cleared it out of the crease, setting up the sequence that led to Granlund’s game-winner.
“Honestly, I don’t expect ‘Granny’ to shoot when it’s 3-on-1,” Barkov said, “but it’s really good that [he did].”
Granlund made the right call. And because of it, Finland’s tournament hopes are still alive.
Image Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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