Saturday is rivalry day, and first up was Finland vs Sweden. Both teams were in a must-win scenario as they both lost their opening matches. The Florida Finns came up with a big-time performance to lift Team Finland to an OT win and two points to tie Sweden in the standings; they’re tied with Canada as well ahead of the USA/Canada match, but that could change depending on the outcome. All the Florida Finnish players got on the scoresheet, while Forsling was stout defensively for Sweden and was all over his teammates when they were on the ice together. It was a tightly contested match that ended with Mikkola assisting on the game-winning goal in OT.
Gustav Forsling:
It might as well have been a Florida practice, given how many of his teammates Forsling was facing down in this grudge match. As much as he knows his teammates’ tendencies, they know his as well, and that was showcased best when Forsling was left all alone to defend a 2-on-1 of Lundell and Luostarinen where they out-waited him to make the cross-ice pass. Forsling took several hits during the game to deny clean zone entries for Finland, while his stick work made passing more difficult. As for his offense, he had a couple of good looks that got saved and one great shot that hit the crossbar and bounced up into the netting. Gus protected the puck well and was defending at the blue line when his d-partner Dahlin scored to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. He did a great job of tying Lundell up at the blue line to keep him from entering the zone and he also took a hard check from Rantanen in order to protect the puck. All the small plays that Forsling does don’t show up on the scoresheet, but he once again was second in TOI for the defense at 20:59 and led the Swedes in short-handed TOI at 1:21; only Hedman logged more ice time overall at 24:52. They’re now tied with Finland going into their final round robin match against Team USA.
Aleksander Barkov:
What a game for Sasha Barkov and his teammates. After what ended up being a blowout loss to the Americans, the Finns responded well to grind out a win in OT. His line had a good early shift in the o-zone and Barky blocked a shot on the first PK of the game. He made two good defensive plays in the first to take the puck off Nylander and a stick play to disrupt the zone entry attempt. During a late-period power play in the opening frame with Sasha QB’in, Laine’s cross-ice feed to Rantanen for the one-timer goes in to give Finland a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission. In the second period, Barkov had a couple of good shots that Linus Ullmark saved after he relieved Gustavsson, who was fighting illness. A feed from Maatta got tipped in by Barkov last as both he and Kaapo Kakko were at the net. The puck hit Kakko’s stick first and then Barkov’s stick, so he got the credit for the goal to tie the game 3-3. After getting called for hooking, Finland killed the penalty, and a bang-on pass from Mikkola found Barkov’s stick as he streaked off for the breakaway chance where he barely missed the net for what would’ve been his second goal. In the post-game interview, Barkov said that Finland did a lot of good things in the game against the USA despite the final score and that the team got a little bit better against Sweden. He also said that they played tough, are a hard working group that doesn’t give up, and were happy to win the rivalry match.
Anton Lundell:
Big-time game, big-time, plays by Anton Lundell. A young player who’s not rattled by the size of the stage and a Stanley Cup Champion, when his team needed a boost, Lundell answered the call to tie the game 1-1 in the first period. Anton’s the youngest player on the Finland squad, but he doesn’t play it; he was outstanding in the faceoff circle with a 75 FO%, winning 6 of 8 draws. Once again, he & his Panther teammate Luostarinen were excellent on the PK, and he had the second most TOI of the forwards tasked with penalty killing at 1:45. The dynamic duo teamed up for a 2 on 1 rush chance with only fellow Panther Forsling back-to-defend for Sweden. Lundell picked up an great pass from Eetu and buried the puck 5-hole to tie things up. Anton led the team in SOG at four and got credited with three hits which tied for second most on the team. He nearly had a second chance at a goal late but couldn’t pick up the centering pass from Luostarinen. The stout PK work denied Sweden of any special teams goals, and at one point, while he was trying to dump in, he got tied up by Forsling. It was an all-around effort that got him on the score sheet and gave his team momentum.
Eetu Luostarinen:
It can’t be understated how important the defense of Luostarinen is. He’s one of Florida’s best penalty killers and he’s one of the best penalty killers now for Finland. He logged the most short-handed TOI of anyone at 2:38. His biggest play of the night was the feed to Lundell on the 2-on-1 rush chance. He read Forsling’s defense perfectly and waited just a beat longer to make the pass that got it through Gus. He was aggressive defensively all game and worked hard along the boards to win the 50/50 board battles. While behind the Swedish net Forsling did tie him up while he was working to make a play happen. Aggressive on puck carriers during the PK, he got the zone clears when Finland needed them and was clearing the zone when the clock was winding down to force OT. Eetu logged a bit more than his average TOI, getting over 17 minutes against the Swedes, which put him fifth out of all the forwards.
Niko Mikkola:
A feed for the OT winner, what a play by Niko Mikkola. He was the final Florida Finn to get a point on the board in this match. He got a shot off early that went wide and then, unfortunately, got called for a hooking penalty. His teammates killed it off, and then Mikkola nearly scored, but Gustavsson’s toe got enough of the puck to send it wide. Niko took several hits along the boards to protect the puck and keep plays alive in the offensive zone. In the second period, he went to try and get his stick in the shooting lane of Karlsson but unfortunately wasn’t over far enough to fully make the play, and the Swedes took the one-goal lead. With the net-front defense, Mikkola did a good job boxing out Sweden, especially Nylander, in the final minute of the second period. In the last period, he had a great pass up the ice to Barkov as he got out of the box and made a good stick check while covering a shooting lane. His feed in OT to Granlund called game and the extra point.
ITR 26: 2 Nations Fighting – Inside The Rink
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