Welcome to Instant Reaction — 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to <a class="text-accent" href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vancouver Canucks</a> games, but since those aren’t happening right now, we thought we’d do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Saturday is highlighted by two matchups of Nations that do not like each other. While we&#8217;ve got the marquee matchup of Team Canada and Team USA tonight, we&#8217;ve first got the battle of the Canucks as Kevin Lankinen and Team Finland take on Elias Pettersson and Team Sweden.
Let&#8217;s get into the game.
These teams put their animosity on display early as they weren&#8217;t shy of throwing the body.
Team Sweden had their foot on the gas pedal to start this game. They were consistently in the offensive zone, generating scoring chances. When Elias Pettersson and his line were on the ice, they were driving play in the opening period.
Pettersson himself seemed to have a little extra juice out of the gate. It looked like he felt confident early on with the puck on his stick. He was the first forward back to defend and held the puck in the defensive zone to wait out the Finnish forecheckers. Flip to the offensive zone, Pettersson looked off a shot, which will certainly frustrate Canucks fans. However, he made a very nice dangle into the slot and tried to shoot it. So, we should be able to forgive him for not getting the shot off on that when he made a nice deke to try and get into a better shooting position.
Shortly after Team Sweden&#8217;s first power play, Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇸🇪 SWEDEN GOAL 🇸🇪
Mika Zibanejad opens the scoring for Sweden! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/8NsXUfcZ3o">pic.twitter.com/8NsXUfcZ3o</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890832418724061418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It was an uncharacteristic play from the Finnish captain in his own zone, as he sent a pass with some heat on it to Olli Määttä, who can&#8217;t corral it. William Nylander picks up the loose puck, but Määttä pokes it off his stick and right to Mika Zibanejad, who beats Lankinen with a quick shot through the five-hole.
1-0 Sweden.
However, the Finns wouldn&#8217;t trail for long:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇫🇮 FINLAND GOAL 🇫🇮
Anton Lundell ties the game for Finland! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/f6WH7jCOUv">pic.twitter.com/f6WH7jCOUv</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890833222725939695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Florida Panther linemates show off their connection after they get sprung on a 2-on-1. Eetu Lousterainen sends a nice saucer pass over to Anton Lundell, who perfectly shoots the puck as soon as it hits the ice and sends it through Filip Gustavsson&#8217;s five-hole.
Tied 1-1.
Team Sweden was pretty undisciplined to end the period by taking two penalties. They managed to kill off the first one, but didn&#8217;t get as lucky on the second:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇫🇮 FINLAND GOAL 🇫🇮
Mikko Rantanen scores on the power play and puts the Fins up 2-1! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Vip7ZJay7">pic.twitter.com/5Vip7ZJay7</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890837959617679568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
Patrik Laine registers his second point of the period by sending a cross-ice feed to Mikko Rantanen to give the Finns a lead heading into the first intermission.
2-1 Finland.
After allowing two goals on four shots, Team Sweden head coach Sam Hallam made a goaltending switch, giving Linus Ullmark his first taste of 4 Nations action.
Ullmark was tested quite a bit early, seeing five shots within the first five minutes, but stopped all of them. His play gave Team Sweden some boosted confidence, enough to send them the other way and tie the game at two.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇸🇪 SWEDEN GOAL 🇸🇪
Rasmus Dahlin ties the game for Sweden! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/N1a4NoFaEu">pic.twitter.com/N1a4NoFaEu</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890844308879683836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
With a good forecheck from Joel Eriksson Ek, the Swedes maintain possession in the offensive zone. Jesper Bratt takes the puck to the point, which allows Rasmus Dahlin to creep down the left wing toward the net. Bratt sends it through traffic toward the net, and Dahlin is left all alone with a wide-open net to even up the game.
Tied 2-2.
But Team Sweden wasn&#8217;t done there.
Throughout the first half of the second period, William Nylander was the best player on the ice. He was speedy and dominant with the puck, controlling play through the neutral zone and was the most noticeable player on the ice. It truly just felt like a matter of when he would make his mark on this game:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇸🇪 SWEDEN GOAL 🇸🇪
William Nylander makes a great pass to find Erik Karlsson who buries it! 3-2 Sweden! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/81bTPL5uCC">pic.twitter.com/81bTPL5uCC</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890847703682142216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Nylander takes the puck in the defensive zone and goes for a skate. As soon as he passes over the offensive blueline, Nylander fades left and draws the defenceman over, leaving a streaming Erik Karlsson open to receive the backhand saucer pass and cleanly beats Lankinen.
3-2 Sweden.
Lankinen probably wants both of those last two goals back. Lankinen was caught way out of position Dahlin&#8217;s goal and just let the Karlsson shot beat him. There was no screen or anything, just a seeing-eye shot that goalies hate allowing.
But the captain wasn&#8217;t going to let Lankinen and the Finns head into the second intermission trailing:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇫🇮 FINLAND GOAL 🇫🇮
Alex Barkov scores for Finland! We are tied up again! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/PS4BKj0bmH">pic.twitter.com/PS4BKj0bmH</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890850999167852805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
With under three minutes in the second period, Mikko Rantanen sends a cross-ice pass to Olli Määttä. The Finnish defenceman does the smart play when you don&#8217;t have a clear option: cause chaos by sending the puck to the front of the net. The puck would eventually find the stick of Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov to tie the game at three.
Tied 3-3.
Now, it&#8217;s unfortunate Rantanen won&#8217;t find the scoresheet for this goal, as he made the best play to set this all up. However, the tip from Kaapo Kakko gets in the way of that.
The Swedes are sent to the power play after a Barkov penalty, but it wasn&#8217;t very threatening. In fact, the most threatening thing about the power play was Barkov after the penalty ended, as he was sprung on a breakaway. Barkov would miss the shot but it was the closest scoring chance that came from that penalty.
The shots in the final frame ended 7-6 for Sweden. We are off to overtime.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
🇫🇮 FINLAND GOAL 🇫🇮
Mikael Granlund is the overtime hero for Finland! 
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Finland</a> <a href="https://t.co/I3gNQ7CTyd">pic.twitter.com/I3gNQ7CTyd</a>
&mdash; Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890867133539655921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What&#8217;s not seen on this clip is Mikael Granlund is actually the one who comes back and makes the defensive play on Adrian Kempe to stop the scoring chance. He then gains speed about the net and continues that on his 2-on-1 with Barkov. Granlund makes no mistake and slips it through Ullmark&#8217;s five-hole to keep Finland&#8217;s championship dreams alive.
Finland 4-3 final.
<h3>CAs Player of the Game</h3>
Team Sweden &#8211; William Nylander
As mentioned above, Nylander was one of the most noticeable players on the ice all game. And no, it&#8217;s not because of how loud the crowd was booing him whenever he touched the puck. The stat sheet will show just one assist, but his forecheck is what caused the turnover on the first goal.
Team Finland &#8211; Mikael Granlund
This was an easy decision. Score the game-winning goal? Named the first star of the game? Keep your nation alive in the tournament? Yeah, you were the player of the game for your team.
<h3>Takeaways</h3>
&#8211; The Finns stay alive, and depending on how tonight&#8217;s game goes, their match against Team Canada on Monday could be the deciding factor for who advances to the finals. Their defence isn&#8217;t as bad as advertised, and making the goaltending change to Kevin Lankinen pays off.
&#8211; Good first period from Elias Pettersson. He was noticeable with the puck on his attempt at a retaliation hit on Rantanen was good to see. However, he was kind of a ghost through the final two periods. Never really noticed him too much. He is pointless through the first two games of the tournament.
&#8211; With a win in regulation tonight, Team USA can punch their ticket to the 4 Nations Face-off final. We&#8217;ll see how tonight&#8217;s game goes, but after this game, it somewhat seems that it will be a preview for Thursday night&#8217;s final.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138774" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="728" height="405" srcset="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png 728w, https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!
What&#8217;s your instant reaction to tonight&#8217;s game? Let us know in the comments section below!

Welcome to Instant Reaction — 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to <a class="text-accent" href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vancouver Canucks</a> games, but since those aren’t happening right now, we thought we’d do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Saturday is highlighted by two matchups of Nations that do not like each other. While we've got the marquee matchup of Team Canada and Team USA tonight, we've first got the battle of the Canucks as Kevin Lankinen and Team Finland take on Elias Pettersson and Team Sweden.

Let's get into the game.

These teams put their animosity on display early as they weren't shy of throwing the body.

Team Sweden had their foot on the gas pedal to start this game. They were consistently in the offensive zone, generating scoring chances. When Elias Pettersson and his line were on the ice, they were driving play in the opening period.

Pettersson himself seemed to have a little extra juice out of the gate. It looked like he felt confident early on with the puck on his stick. He was the first forward back to defend and held the puck in the defensive zone to wait out the Finnish forecheckers. Flip to the offensive zone, Pettersson looked off a shot, which will certainly frustrate Canucks fans. However, he made a very nice dangle into the slot and tried to shoot it. So, we should be able to forgive him for not getting the shot off on that when he made a nice deke to try and get into a better shooting position.

Shortly after Team Sweden's first power play, Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring:

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890832418724061418

It was an uncharacteristic play from the Finnish captain in his own zone, as he sent a pass with some heat on it to Olli Määttä, who can't corral it. William Nylander picks up the loose puck, but Määttä pokes it off his stick and right to Mika Zibanejad, who beats Lankinen with a quick shot through the five-hole.

1-0 Sweden.

However, the Finns wouldn't trail for long:

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890833222725939695

The Florida Panther linemates show off their connection after they get sprung on a 2-on-1. Eetu Lousterainen sends a nice saucer pass over to Anton Lundell, who perfectly shoots the puck as soon as it hits the ice and sends it through Filip Gustavsson's five-hole.

Tied 1-1.

Team Sweden was pretty undisciplined to end the period by taking two penalties. They managed to kill off the first one, but didn't get as lucky on the second:

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890837959617679568

&nbsp;

Patrik Laine registers his second point of the period by sending a cross-ice feed to Mikko Rantanen to give the Finns a lead heading into the first intermission.

2-1 Finland.

After allowing two goals on four shots, Team Sweden head coach Sam Hallam made a goaltending switch, giving Linus Ullmark his first taste of 4 Nations action.

Ullmark was tested quite a bit early, seeing five shots within the first five minutes, but stopped all of them. His play gave Team Sweden some boosted confidence, enough to send them the other way and tie the game at two.

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890844308879683836

With a good forecheck from Joel Eriksson Ek, the Swedes maintain possession in the offensive zone. Jesper Bratt takes the puck to the point, which allows Rasmus Dahlin to creep down the left wing toward the net. Bratt sends it through traffic toward the net, and Dahlin is left all alone with a wide-open net to even up the game.

Tied 2-2.

But Team Sweden wasn't done there.

Throughout the first half of the second period, William Nylander was the best player on the ice. He was speedy and dominant with the puck, controlling play through the neutral zone and was the most noticeable player on the ice. It truly just felt like a matter of when he would make his mark on this game:

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890847703682142216

Nylander takes the puck in the defensive zone and goes for a skate. As soon as he passes over the offensive blueline, Nylander fades left and draws the defenceman over, leaving a streaming Erik Karlsson open to receive the backhand saucer pass and cleanly beats Lankinen.

3-2 Sweden.

Lankinen probably wants both of those last two goals back. Lankinen was caught way out of position Dahlin's goal and just let the Karlsson shot beat him. There was no screen or anything, just a seeing-eye shot that goalies hate allowing.

But the captain wasn't going to let Lankinen and the Finns head into the second intermission trailing:

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890850999167852805

With under three minutes in the second period, Mikko Rantanen sends a cross-ice pass to Olli Määttä. The Finnish defenceman does the smart play when you don't have a clear option: cause chaos by sending the puck to the front of the net. The puck would eventually find the stick of Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov to tie the game at three.

Tied 3-3.

Now, it's unfortunate Rantanen won't find the scoresheet for this goal, as he made the best play to set this all up. However, the tip from Kaapo Kakko gets in the way of that.

The Swedes are sent to the power play after a Barkov penalty, but it wasn't very threatening. In fact, the most threatening thing about the power play was Barkov after the penalty ended, as he was sprung on a breakaway. Barkov would miss the shot but it was the closest scoring chance that came from that penalty.

The shots in the final frame ended 7-6 for Sweden. We are off to overtime.

https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1890867133539655921

What's not seen on this clip is Mikael Granlund is actually the one who comes back and makes the defensive play on Adrian Kempe to stop the scoring chance. He then gains speed about the net and continues that on his 2-on-1 with Barkov. Granlund makes no mistake and slips it through Ullmark's five-hole to keep Finland's championship dreams alive.

Finland 4-3 final.
<h3>CAs Player of the Game</h3>
Team Sweden - William Nylander

As mentioned above, Nylander was one of the most noticeable players on the ice all game. And no, it's not because of how loud the crowd was booing him whenever he touched the puck. The stat sheet will show just one assist, but his forecheck is what caused the turnover on the first goal.

Team Finland - Mikael Granlund

This was an easy decision. Score the game-winning goal? Named the first star of the game? Keep your nation alive in the tournament? Yeah, you were the player of the game for your team.
<h3>Takeaways</h3>
- The Finns stay alive, and depending on how tonight's game goes, their match against Team Canada on Monday could be the deciding factor for who advances to the finals. Their defence isn't as bad as advertised, and making the goaltending change to Kevin Lankinen pays off.

- Good first period from Elias Pettersson. He was noticeable with the puck on his attempt at a retaliation hit on Rantanen was good to see. However, he was kind of a ghost through the final two periods. Never really noticed him too much. He is pointless through the first two games of the tournament.

- With a win in regulation tonight, Team USA can punch their ticket to the 4 Nations Face-off final. We'll see how tonight's game goes, but after this game, it somewhat seems that it will be a preview for Thursday night's final.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138774" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="728" height="405" /></a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!

What's your instant reaction to tonight's game? Let us know in the comments section below!

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