Game two of the Four Nations Face-Off was just as exciting as game one, but in a completely different way. Fans got a tight-fought match through two periods of play that erupted into an onslaught of goal-scoring in the final period. Unfortunately for Finland, they were simply outmatched in the last twenty minutes of play as the US took control and broke the game wide open. The injured defense of the Finns was able to play with the Americans and, at points, looked like they weren’t missing anyone, but once the US found its footing, they put the pedal to the metal and dominated the rest of the way. Matthew Tkachuk had a standout night along with his brother, Barkov’s strong two-way game was great as always, Luostarinen and Lundell both had good games while making impactful plays, and Mikkola got the opportunity to play top defensive minutes which he handled well, and played his physical style.
Matthew Tkachuk:
What a night for Matthew Tkachuk and his brother for Team USA. In their first chance to play together on the same team, no one on USA made more of an impact than they did. Of the six goals the Americans scored, the Tkachuks were responsible for four of them, and both brothers were on hat trick watch. They spent most of the match on separate lines before a switch late in the second that carried over into the third put Brady and Matthew as the wingers for Jack Eichel. Matthew set the tone early, throwing a big down in the Finland zone, which was reminiscent of how he threw a big hit in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals. When USA got its first power-play of the game, Matthew’s assignment was down in the bumper position, exactly the same assignment he has for Florida. His first goal came in the third period on the man advantage, where he took a shot from the blue that caught the stick of Panther teammate Niko Mikkola and tipped its way past Juuse Saros to give Team USA a 3-1 lead. He then scored the final goal of the night also on the power-play, this time his tip on Wrenski’s shot got saved and he was able to pick up the rebound to score and give the US a 6-1 lead that they’d ride to the end of the period for the win. In addition to his two goals, he notched an assist on Brady’s second goal, giving him a three-point night, and he was named Player of the Game. It wouldn’t be a full game for Tkachuk if he didn’t get into a scrum or two, so naturally, this game had one in the first minute, and he found himself in the middle of another scrum late in the game. There is a rather funny clip going around X of Tkachuk going to potentially slash the player behind him, only for him to turn and see that it was Barkov, so instead, Matthew skated off. There was another clip posted by The Hockey News of Tkachuk and Barkov post-game giving each other a friendly handshake and hug. Clearly, he hasn’t forgotten his loyalty to his teammates even while on opposing teams at the moment.
Aleksander Barkov:
It was a rough start for the Finns, but Barkov led his team and kept things tight for the first two periods. At one point, it even looked like maybe Finland could pull out an upset as well, as they did a good job of containing the explosive American offense. Barkov’s strong faceoff prowess showed off as he ended the night with a 51.7 FO%. He led all Finnish forwards in TOI as he logged 20:48 while being the do-it-all player. He won board battles and forced turnovers while leading the team in SOG at five. Unfortunately, his linemate Rantanen didn’t notch a single SOG, but Lehkonen tallied four. The first PK was extremely successful as they didn’t allow a single SOG for the Americans and kept them from getting set up. One of Barkov’s best setups was for Patrik Laine on the PP although his one-timer shot got saved. Sasha also pressured Hellebyuck behind the US net and forced him to misplay the puck, giving Finland an opportunity. As a whole, the Finns were forechecking well for two periods, and the tight defensive game was exactly the style that they wanted to play, unfortunately, once the US opened up the game in the third after scoring two goals in 11 seconds, they had to change their approach to something that suited the Americans’ strengths. Barkov was still the best two-way player on the ice despite the loss.
Anton Lundell:
Tasked with a bottom-six role and paired with Panther teammate Eetu Luostarinen, Lundell was a factor in the game for Finland. His line got into things early, as the first scrum of the game involved him and his linemates in front of the Finland net. He was strong on the first penalty kill, getting two big clears, one of them from the end boards. He made a pass to Luostarinen, which allowed Eetu to make a pass to Olli Maatta, which sprung an odd-man rush for Finland, and the opening goal was scored by Henri Jokiharju, one of the replacement defensemen. Normally, Lundell’s strong in the faceoff dot, but he struggled against Team USA with only a 21.4 FO%, well below his normal average, that is right around 50%. The highlight play for him was the takeaway that he turned into a short-handed goal chance on the second PK of the night. He was forechecking hard all game and tallied three SOG, the most out of any forward not on the top line. His line was matched up against the Matthews line on more than one occasion which probably accounts for the struggle in the faceoff circle. It was a good effort from the young forward, we’ll see what adjustments are made moving forward. Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch this match but he could be a good fit with Lundell and Luostarinen.
Eetu Luostarinen:
Easily one of the best games Eetu has played all year. He’s always defensively sound one of the Panthers’ best penalty killers as well as excelling in work along the boards, but in this game, there was a push to be more offensive. He had one great shot opportunity on a toe-drag that got saved in the first period. Even though he’s normally forechecking pretty well, it looked like he found another gear and was even more aggressive in the first two periods, especially in the offensive zone, to create opportunities for his linemates. All around, his game was raised to another level that Panthers fans haven’t seen much of, if at all. One of his best plays of the night was getting his stick in a passing lane to deny a pass headed toward Matthew Tkachuk. He tallied the third most time on the PK at 1:43, only Haula (1:48) and Lundell (1:54) logged more time. He also had the third most shifts for the forwards at 21, which tied him with Sebastian Aho, and had 14:36 TOI, which puts him just shy of his season average with the Panthers (15:19).
Niko Mikkola:
Despite accidentally tipping in a shot from M. Tkachuk, Mikkola stepped up to the challenge of playing on a top defensive pairing. It’s not a role he’s had to play with the Panthers, but he played it well, given the circumstances. He logged the most PK time at 4:05 with his partner Esa Lindell right behind at 3:53. Most notable is that he was one of two defensemen who got credited with a hit where he notched two. His physicality caused some problems for USA when things were tight, and he even got into a small scrum with the Tkachuk brothers, which started from a hit he threw on Brady. Mikkola also was blocking shots all night as well as boxing players out from the front of the net. He even boxed out M. Tkachuk at one point to give Saros the best chance at making a save. One of his best plays was the coverage he had on Boldy’s breakaway, where he denied the shot chance. It was an all-around solid effort from Mikkola and he stepped up to take shots when the opportunity was there.
ITR 26: 2 Nations Fighting – Inside The Rink
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