Florida Panthers in the Four Nations Face-Off: Doubleheader 02/17/2025

Monday was jam-packed with action as the second doubleheader got underway. With three teams tied in points and a spot in the final on the line, there was plenty for Canada, Finland, and Sweden to play for. The regulation win for Canada ultimately meant that Sweden’s game against the USA meant nothing but Sweden playing for a win before the tournament was over. Sam Reinhart had his best game of the tournament, Bennett played his role well, and Barkov led his team in an uphill battle against Canada, and the Finns nearly completed the comeback. It was more of a quiet game from Luostarinen and Lundell while Mikkola added some offensive pressure for the Finns. Forsling’s game against the Americans was probably his best game, while the Swedes got the regulation win over Team USA. Matthew Tkachuk didn’t play as a precaution to make sure he’s good to go for the final on Thursday.

Sam Reinhart:

It’s amazing the difference that moving Reinhart to his strong side makes. HC Cooper had been playing Samson on the left wing with McDavid at center and Marner on the right. When Reino plays with the Panthers, he’s always playing on the right wing, whether it’s Barkov at center or Lundell. For the game against Finland, Reinhart was moved off of the McDavid line and down to the MacKinnon-Crosby line, where he played right wing. That one change made all the difference as Sam had three assists, setting up three of the four Canada goals, the two MacKinnon goals, and the Crosby empty-net goal, with two of the assists being primary. He had two shots on goal and logged the most TOI of any of the Team Canada forwards at 16:37, and he was more physical this match, getting credited with three hits. It was the type of performance that Florida fans expect to see out of him when he’s on the ice.

Sam Bennett:

It was a quietly good night from Bennett as he played his role well against the Finns. He threw the most hits out of anyone at four and was solid on the forecheck all night. The team tasked him with being physical, and we were throwing checks along the boards and blocking shots. His best decision of the night was at the end of the game where he quickly looked up to check the time clock to see what type of play he should make. Nothing as explosive as the USA game this time around.

Aleksander Barkov:

He truly is the man that does everything for his team, as he willed Team Finland to rally from a 4-0 deficit to make it 4-3 prior to the Canada empty net goal. Barkov’s defensive prowess was on display all match against both the McDavid line and the MacKinnon line. When in the offensive zone, he did his best to set his teammates up for scoring chances or went to the net himself to battle for tip-in chances. Mikkola sent a puck to the net that was a great opportunity for a tip in but Barkov couldn’t quite get his stick on it. He logged the most TOI of all the forwards and the second most of anyone on his team at 24:37; only Lindell had more TOI at 27:21. Sasha was credited with one assist on the second Granlund goal that made the game 4-3 with just over a minute to before Canada scored the empty net goal. Barkov was the only player to take over 20 faceoffs, and he went 16 for 11 for a 59.3 FO%. Against a high-powered team like Canada, the Finns were able to make it a closer game than it probably should have been, but they were excellent when they were playing with the empty net and were running with six forwards, which were their six best players. A fully healthy Finland team can certainly make some noise at the Olympics next year and don’t be surprised if you see several of the Panthers players make that roster.

Anton Lundell:

Like Bennett, it was a bit of a quiet night for Lundell and his linemates. With only one shot on goal and one hit he was playing more of a defensive game and got a small amount of pressure against the Canadians. As always he was hard working along the boards and behind the net while also making some very nice tape to tape passes to his teammates. He only logged 11:55 TOI which is his lowest of the Four Nations tournament. His game always includes forechecking hard, which he did against Canada, but unfortunately, his line just couldn’t get going. He’ll head back to Florida fully healthy along with his other Finnish teammates which is arguably more important as the Panthers are ramping up to defend their Stanley Cup title.

Eetu Luostarinen:

There is not much to add on Luostarinen, as his game was solid defensively, as it always is. He logged 10:20 in TOI, which was his lowest of the tournament, but he pressured puck carriers hard. His forechecking was deployed against the Crosby line and he did a good job of tying up Canadian players who were at the net. With no short-handed time, there wasn’t any extra ice time for him on special teams but he did get credited with two hits on the night.

Niko Mikkola:

As with the other games, Mikkola started off the match by jumping up into the early plays in the offensive zone and taking shots toward the net. At one point, he even led the rush chance for Finland and had a great shot chance that he was looking for Barkov to tip in. Mikkola blocked shots and cleared rebounds from the front of the net. His d-partner Lindell scored the opening goal for the Finns in the final period which spurred a hard push offensively. He took the most shifts out of anyone at 28 and logged a total of 23:37, which was fourth most on the team behind Lindell, Barkov, and Rantanen. It was a tall order to defend against the top lines of Team Canada but Niko held his own on those guys. Although Finland’s time is over, it was a great experience to see how Mikkola handled top d-pairing time and matchups. He’s having a career-best season with the Cats right now and showed he can handle a heavy workload.

Gustav Forsling:

A gutsy performance from the Swedes against Team USA, although the Americans were running short-handed after clinching their sport in the Championship. While Forsling didn’t light up the stat sheet, he made an impact on the game by being in the right place at the right time and aggressive coverage on the puck carriers as they tried to enter the zone. As a whole, the Swedes were aggressive on the PK, and Forsling’s excellent stick work disrupted passes or shot attempts. His coverage on odd-man rushes was solid, and he had another huge net-front clear on a loose puck. It was more of the same, which isn’t a bad thing as Forsling is one of the best defensive defensemen in the world, and the Swedes got the 2-1 win over Team USA. While they got the regulation win, Canada won the head-to-head tiebreaker, so unfortunately, their tournament is done, but it was a great effort from the Swedes against a tough American team, even one that’s short-handed.