Finland 4, Sweden 3 (OT)
MONTREAL — Team Finland served notice it will not go quietly into the night at the 4 Nations Face-off.
Mikael Granlund scored the winner at 1:49 of 3-on-3 overtime to keep his club’s hopes alive in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Team Sweden on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre.
Granlund beat Swedish goalie Linus Ullmark on the first shot he faced in OT and it was one he’d want back.
Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson wasn’t looking at the club’s second straight loss in overtime in this tournament as some kind of moral victory.
“It still sucks equally,” the former Ottawa Senators captain said. “I don’t think we’re playing as good as we hoped to and I don’t think we’ve reached the standards we set on ourselves in that room. Finland played a great game and when they got opportunities they were able to score.
“Overall, I don’t think we’re too satisfied with the way that we went through 60-plus minutes.”
Sweden and Finland have a long-standing rivalry and that’s why there was an assumption this would be a good one.
This was played in prime time overseas and both of these teams played like it.
With three points for a regulation win, it was in the best interest of both teams not to go to overtime. Both tried desperately to avoid it but nobody could settle the score in 60 minutes.
The result means Sweden and Finland are both tied with two points each with one round-robin game left to play. Finland will face Team Canada on Monday afternoon in Boston and the Americans will host Sweden at night.
GIVE THE FINNS CREDIT
Knocked off 6-1 by Team USA in Game 1 on Thursday, Finland had to get up off the mat and find a way to get its act together.
Twice, the Finns were able to erase leads by Sweden to tie it up. It started after Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring at 8:35 in the first. Then, late in the second after Erik Karlsson restored a 3-2 lead for Sweden, Aleksander Barkov tied it at 17:05 of the second.
“Losing 6-1 didn’t look great but we did a lot of good things,” said Barkov. “We just got a little bit better and we played pretty well for 60-something minutes.
“We knew playing against Sweden, even if it’s 4 a.m. over there, it doesn’t really matter. Everybody came out fired up and they did too. It was a tough and good game but we’re happy to win this one.”
Finnish coach Antti Pennanen opted to sit starter Juuse Saros after he gave up all six against the Americans and went with Kevin Lankinen of the Canucks, who made 21 stops in the victory.
GIVE THE FINNS CREDIT
Knocked off 6-1 by Team USA in Game 1 on Thursday, Finland had to get up off the mat and find a way to get its act together.
Twice, the Finns were able to erase leads by Sweden to tie it up. It started after Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring at 8:35 in the first. Then, late in the second after Erik Karlsson restored a 3-2 lead for Sweden, Aleksander Barkov tied it at 17:05 of the second.
“Losing 6-1 didn’t look great but we did a lot of good things,” said Barkov. “We just got a little bit better and we played pretty well for 60-something minutes.
“We knew playing against Sweden, even if it’s 4 a.m. over there, it doesn’t really matter. Everybody came out fired up and they did too. It was a tough and good game but we’re happy to win this one.”
Finnish coach Antti Pennanen opted to sit starter Juuse Saros after he gave up all six against the Americans and went with Kevin Lankinen of the Canucks, who made 21 stops in the victory.
MAKING A CHANGE
Ullmark saw his first action of the tourney, taking over to start the second period after Fililp Gustavsson gave up two goals on four shots in the first, including a go-ahead power-play goal by Mikko Rantanen with 13.9 seconds left.
“That felt like a playoff game,” said Rantanen.
Earlier, Mika Zibanejad gave Sweden a 1-0 lead before Anton Lundell had tied it up 1-1 by beating Gustavsson through the five-hole on an odd-man rush.
Swedish coach Sam Hallam said he didn’t plan to make a change in the net, but Gustavsson was removed because of illness. Ullmark has played some big games at the Garden and it would be no surprise to see him play on Monday against the Americans.
“I try to do what’s best every single day,” Ullmark said. “If I get the call, I will go out there and do my best. If I don’t get the call, I will still do my best with the hand I’ve been dealt.
“We already played Canada here in Montreal so playing Team USA is another opportunity for us to get valuable experience in our careers.”