Throughout the 4 Nations Faceoff, we’ll be keeping track of all the action and bringing you all of the results in one place.
Canada vs. Finland
The final game of the 4 Nations round robin took place yesterday, and they sure kept things interesting. The early game saw Canada and Finland facing off, and through the early goings, it was all Canada. The got themselves on the board early once again thanks to the efforts of Connor McDavid, and from there, they were off to the races. They doubled up on their lead just 46 seconds later on a goal from Nathan MacKinnon, and it looked like this one might have some real potential to get ugly. Now, to their credit, with a timeout taken after that second goal, the Finns managed to settle down a bit from there, but Canada still managed to chip away at it, pulling further into the lead — Brayden Point made it a three-goal game midway through the first period, and MacKinnon picked up his second of the game in the second period to pull them ahead by four.
And as over as it might have looked heading into the second intermission, the Finns came out on the other side of it determined not to go away quietly. It took a little while to build to it, but they got themselves on the board with seven minutes remaining in the frame on a goal from Esa Lindell, and they really seemed to switch on from there. With a steady picking up of steam and two goals scored in just 23 seconds inside the last two minutes of play (both from Mikael Granlund), it looked like they might just be able to mount a full comeback after all. And they had some looks with the goaltender pulled, but ultimately they fell just a bit short. In the end, it was Sidney Crosby to put away the empty netter and seal the win for the Canadians.
Final: Canada 5 – Finland 3
Next game up (FIN): N/A
Next game up (CAN): Feb 20, 8:00 ET vs. USA
USA vs. Canada
Things got even more interesting in the late game between the Americans and Swedes. The depleted American team — down, most notably, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy, and Matthew Tkachuk heading into the game, who also lost Brady Tkachuk early in the game — were looking to close out the round robin on a high note, but the Swedes weren’t going to make it easy on them.
The Americans got themselves on the board very early, with our pal Sam Ersson letting in a soft goal for Chris Kreider on the rush just 35 seconds into the game. They had the early edge there, but they struggled to build much in the way of momentum, and between that and some struggles on the defensive side, they ultimately allowed to Swedes to get themselves back into this game. Gustav Nyquist got them on the board a little over halfway into the frame after they got things settled down a bit, and then they pulled ahead with just 56 seconds left in the period on a goal from Jesper Bratt after the Americans turned the puck over in the neutral zone.
The thought, then, became something like “if Ersson can lock in, they might have a chance to actually pull this off.” And that’s exactly what happened. Despite the Americans getting their fair share of good looks, Ersson wouldn’t be bested again. He weathered their late surge and left them frustrated at every turn, keeping them from inching back into the game, and sealing a relatively tidy win for Sweden. It didn’t keep the Americans from advancing to the title game, but it was a nice win all the same.
Final: Sweden 2 – USA 1
Next game up (SWE): N/A
Next game up (USA): Feb 20, 8:00 ET vs. Canada
