Four Nations Game Recap: Team Finland vs. Team Sweden | 02/15/2025

Today’s game between Sweden and Finland in the Four Nations Face-Off promised to be a thrilling encounter. Both teams were eager to secure a crucial win to gain points and improve their standings, keeping their hopes alive for the final. With Sweden’s resilience and Finland’s determination, this matchup was set to be an intense battle between two long-time rivals.

Here is Inside the RInk’s Game Preview of this matchup:

Tournament Standings

Sweden: In their recent game against Canada, Sweden put up a strong fight but ultimately fell short in a thrilling 4-3 overtime loss. Key players like Elias Pettersson and Filip Forsberg were instrumental, with Pettersson scoring in the game. Sweden’s defense, led by Erik Karlsson, has been solid, with Karlsson leading in blocked shots. Despite the loss, Sweden showed resilience and kept themselves in the game, making them a formidable opponent in today’s game against Finland. Sweden currently has one point in the Four Nations Face-Off standings heading in to the game today.

Finland: Finland had a tough start in the Four Nations Face-Off, suffering a 6-1 defeat to the United States.The Tkachuk brothers led the charge for the USA, showcasing incredible skill and determination, which Finland struggled to match. Despite their resilience in defense, Finland couldn’t keep up with the intensity and performance of the USA team. Finland needs the win to stay in contention for the final, making this game critical for them. A loss will mean that they will be eliminated from the remainder of the tournament.

Team Sweden – Lines

Team Finland – Lines

Period 1

Filip Forsberg executed a toe drag, but Kevin Lankinen managed to get a piece of it to make the stop. At 2:46, Niko Mikkola was penalized for hooking, giving Sweden a power play. A turnover during Sweden’s odd-man rush allowed Victor Hedman to gain possession. The Finns successfully killed the penalty, returning to full strength.

Gustav Forsling took a shot, but it was saved by the pad. Sebastian Aho was active on the forecheck, but the puck went out of play. William Nylander got a takeaway, and the Swedes took an early lead after Mika Zibanejad fired one past the goaltender at 08:35, making it 1-0.

Later, an odd-man rush by the Finns resulted in a goal by Anton Lundell, assisted by Eetu Luostarinen and Patrik Laine at 10:58.

At 7:51, Rickard Rakell (SWE) was called for holding, giving Finland their first power play opportunity. Mattias Ekholm (SWE) made the clear as Aleksander Barkov (FIN) brought it to the red line. A wrist shot on Gustavsson (SWE) went high and wide. Elias Pettersson (SWE) made a takeaway. A wrist shot went wide of the blocker side of Lankinen (FIN). Finland applied some pressure on the Swedes up along the wall. Victor Hedman (SWE) passed to Hampus Lindholm (SWE), but the shot was blocked.

Under two minutes remained in the first as both teams worked the puck. Adrian Kempe (SWE) attempted a toe drag, but the shot went off the stick of Kevin Lankinen (FIN). A shot by the Swedes went off the chest of Lankinen, then Sebastian Aho (FIN) was tripped up by Victor Hedman (SWE) at 19:34, resulting in a tripping penalty. Finland took no time at all to take advantage, as they regained the lead with a sweet one-timer from Mikko Rantanen (FIN) from the left center, finding a path under Filip Gustavsson’s (SWE) glove, giving the Finns a 2-1 lead at 19:46. Patrik Laine (FIN) and Sebastian Aho (FIN) provided the assists on the PP goal.

Statistics:

Shots on Goal: Sweden 4, Finland 5
Shots off Goal: Sweden 6
Shooting Percentage: Sweden 12.5% (1/8), Finland 50% (2/4)
Blocked Shots: Both teams 5
Goalkeeper Saves: Sweden 2, Finland 7
Save Percentage: Sweden 50% (2/4), Finland 87.5% (7/8)
Penalties: Sweden 2, Finland 1
Penalty Minutes (PIM): Sweden 4, Finland 2
Powerplay Goals: Sweden 0, Finland 1
Powerplay Percentage: Sweden 0% (0/1), Finland 50% (1/2)
Penalty Killing Percentage: Sweden 50% (1/2), Finland 100% (1/1)
Hits: Sweden 11, Finland 8
Faceoffs Won: Sweden 5, Finland 10
Faceoff Percentage: Sweden 33.33%, Finland 66.67%
Giveaways: Sweden 5, Finland 1
Takeaways: Sweden 0, Finland 2

Period 2

Linus Ullmark (SWE) replaced Filip Gustavsson (SWE) in the net for Sweden. William Nylander (SWE) crossed the line but lost his edge. Niko Mikkola (FIN) made a point-to-point pass. Aleksander Barkov (FIN) had room to make a shot on Ullmark, but the save was made. Ullmark (SWE) also stopped a point-blank shot from Artturi Lehkonen (FIN).

Jesper Bratt (SWE) made a pass to Joel Eriksson Ek (SWE). Filip Forsberg (SWE) passed to Lucas Raymond (SWE), but the shot was blocked. However, on the rebound at 05:06, Rasmus Dahlin (SWE) scored, assisted by Joel Eriksson Ek (SWE) and Lucas Raymond (SWE), tying the game at 2-2.

A snap shot on net by the Finns was stopped by Ullmark (SWE). William Nylander (SWE) tried to clear but was unable to; he got the puck but was called offside. Adrian Kempe (SWE) almost had a lane but lost it. Filip Forsberg (SWE) snagged the puck but put it up into his own bench. Rickard Rakell (SWE) chased down the puck and was the first to reach it after the shot was deflected out by the Finnish goaltender, Kevin Lankinen (FIN).

On the transition, Erik Karlsson (SWE) got the Swedes back on the board with a shot to the left shoulder of Lankinen (FIN), thanks to a feed by William Nylander (SWE). At 10:32, Karlsson (SWE) scored, assisted by Nylander (SWE) and Victor Hedman (SWE), making it 3-2.

Anton Lundell (FIN) chipped in a shot, but Ullmark (SWE) managed to clear it away. A wrist shot later by Henri Jokiharju (FIN) was again blocked off by Ullmark (SWE). Mattias Ekholm (SWE) later lobbed it in, but that shot attempt was also gloved down. Four minutes remained in the middle frame as Karlsson (SWE) tried to keep the puck in the zone. William Nylander (SWE) gained possession, but the Finns were able to regain control.

Olli Määttä (FIN) passed to Mikko Rantanen (FIN), feeding the puck into the zone. At 17:05, Aleksander Barkov (FIN) scored from the front of the net, assisted by Kaapo Kakko (FIN) and Olli Määttä (FIN), tying the game at 3-3. It had appeared that Kakko (FIN) had gotten most of the stick on that puck and scored that third goal, but it remained credited to Barkov (FIN) at the end of the frame. Barkov (FIN) seemed to have a slight limp but remained on the bench as seconds remained on the clock. We finished the period tied at three goals each.

Statistics:

Shots on Goal: SWE 7, FIN 10
Shots off Goal: SWE 4, FIN 4
Shooting PCT: SWE 28.57% (2/7), FIN 10% (1/10)
Blocked Shots: SWE 4, FIN 4
Goalkeeper Saves: SWE 9, FIN 5
Saves PCT: SWE 90% (9/10), FIN 71.43% (5/7)
Hits: SWE 4, FIN 9
Faceoffs Won: SWE 11, FIN 10
Faceoff PCT: SWE 52.38%, FIN 47.62%
Giveaways: SWE 6, FIN 6
Takeaways: SWE 0, FIN 4

Period 3

Aleksander Barkov (FIN) returned to the bench for Period 3, indicating he was deemed fit to continue playing. Gustav Nyquist (SWE) missed a pass just before the play was called dead. Mika Zibanejad (SWE) had a chance but was unable to get off a shot. Lucas Raymond (SWE) took a shot on the Finns, but it went wide left of the net. Kevin Lankinen (FIN) could not clear the puck. A shot by Filip Forsberg (SWE) was gloved into Lankinen’s chest moments later. A delayed penalty was called on the Finns at 17:05, sending the Swedes on the power play after a hooking call on Aleksander Barkov (FIN). William Nylander (SWE) went behind the net, chipped to Nylander, and the shot by Victor Hedman (SWE) was lost as he broke his stick on that play.

We were back to full strength when Aleksander Barkov (FIN) snagged the puck straight from his release from the box but could not get the shot on net, sliding the puck wide to the right. Lucas Raymond (SWE) passed to Jesper Bratt (SWE) from center, but the puck got lost. Nylander (SWE) passed to Adrian Kempe (SWE), who had room up front, but the puck was later forced into neutral ice. Seven minutes remained and the score was still tied. Sebastian Aho’s (FIN) pass was denied by Hampus Lindholm (SWE). Kempe (SWE) passed to Zibanejad (SWE), but the puck was knocked off. Kevin Lankinen (FIN) covered the puck and play stopped.

Kaapo Kakko (FIN) hit Elias Pettersson (SWE), and the stick bounced up and hit Aleksander Barkov (FIN) in the mouth with no penalty call. Gustav Forsling (SWE) got checked hard later as the tension heated up. Off the stick of Erik Karlsson (SWE), Roope Hintz (FIN) found the loose puck, spun, but just missed the net. Under a minute and a half remained now. Jesper Bratt (SWE) had an angled shot but missed, forcing Kevin Lankinen (FIN) to drop onto the puck with both mitts to keep it out of danger. We had some back and forth in the neutral zone, but we ended the third tied at three aside and this game was headed into OT.

Statistics:

Shots on Goal: 7 (SWE), 6 (FIN)
Shots off Goal: 7 (SWE), 3 (FIN)
Blocked Shots: 4 (SWE), 4 (FIN)
Goalkeeper Saves: 6 (SWE), 7 (FIN)
Saves PCT: 100% (6/6) (SWE), 100% (7/7) (FIN)
Penalties: 0 (SWE), 1 (FIN)
PIM: 0 (SWE), 2 (FIN)
Powerplay PCT: 0% (0/1) (SWE)
Pen. Killing PCT: 100% (1/1) (FIN)
Hits: 4 (SWE), 7 (FIN)
Faceoffs Won: 8 (SWE), 10 (FIN)
Faceoffs %: 44.44% (SWE), 55.56% (FIN)
Giveaways: 2 (SWE), 7 (FIN)
Takeaways: 1 (SWE), 1 (FIN)

Overtime (10 Minutes, 3-on-3):

Mika Zibanejad (SWE) got an early shot, but Kevin Lankinen (FIN) made a sweet stop on the shot. Jesper Bratt (SWE) passed to William Nylander (SWE), but the shot was blocked off. Mikael Granlund (FIN) circled behind the net, but Gustav Forsling (SWE) later took it away. It would be Granlund who won this for the Finns after the shot by Sweden on Lankinen (FIN) was later snagged by the Finns and taken down the ice. Mikael Granlund (FIN) gained possession of the puck and sent the shot between the legs of Ullmark (SWE) for the OT win at 01:49.

Game Stat Summary

Shots on Goal: 24 (SWE) | 21 (FIN)
Shots off Goal: 17 (SWE) | 13 (FIN)
Shooting Percentage: 12.5% (3/24) (SWE) | 19.05% (4/21) (FIN)
Blocked Shots: 15 (SWE) | 13 (FIN)
Goalkeeper Saves: 17 (SWE) | 21 (FIN)
Save Percentage: 80.95% (17/21) (SWE) | 87.5% (21/24) (FIN)
Hits: 20 (SWE) | 25 (FIN)
Faceoffs Won: 24 (SWE) | 31 (FIN)
Faceoff Percentage: 43.64% (SWE) | 56.36% (FIN)
Giveaways: 13 (SWE) | 14 (FIN)
Takeaways: 2 (SWE) | 7 (FIN)

Final Score

Finland 4
Sweden 3

Team Finland stayed alive in the tournament as each team gained vital points due to the game going into overtime.

Stars of the Game:

• First Star and Player of the Game: Mikael Granlund (FIN)
• Second Star: Patrik Laine (FIN)
• Third Star: Rasmus Dahlin (SWE)

Goaltender Stats

• Filip Gustavsson (SWE): 15:34, 2-4, 50.00% (Period 1)
• Kevin Lankinen (FIN): 55:37, 21-24, 87.50%
• Linus Ullmark (SWE): 39:38, 15-17, 88.20%

Top Five Players Based on TOI:

1. Esa Lindell (FIN): 28:20
2. Victor Hedman (SWE): 24:52
3. Niko Mikkola (FIN): 25:50
4. William Nylander (SWE): 21:35
5. Olli Maatta (FIN): 21:07