The 3v3 overtime has not been kind to Sweden in NHL sponsored international tournaments. They are fun to watch. They also fail to put other teams away. They can't find that final goal to get over the hump. From the absolutely legendary overtime session against Team North America eight years ago, to their opening contest against Canada, and now today.
The problem, one might say, is all Swedish, no Finnish.
Regulation was a tightly contested affair. The 5v5 xGF% was ever so slightly in favor of Sweden 50.4 to Finland’s 49.6%. Shots attempts at 5v5 were 48-44 Sweden and all-situations shots were also in favor of Sweden 24-21.
It was a low event game which puts a premium on your looks at the net. Unfortunately, for Sweden Filip Gustavsson didn’t look as sharp as he did against Canada. He gave up two goals on only four shots on goal after the Swedes jumped out in front 1-0. As a result the team went in a different direction and put in Linus Ullmark after the first period. Although, it wasn’t a coach’s decision. Gustavsson was ill
#mnwild’s Filip Gustavsson was sick, not pulled for performance, says Hallam
— Michael Russo (@russohockey.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Sweden was able to dig out of their deficit by leaning into their offensive defensemen. Rasmus Dahlin slipped down to the crease area where he deposited a rebound into the open net
Rasmus Dahlin pinches in from the point and this game is tied yet again! 🪢 #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ http://plus.espn.com
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ http://watch.sportsnet.ca
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— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Erik Karlsson followed it up five minutes later when William Nylander went the length of the ice twice to set things up.
Erik Karlsson finds the twine for the second goal of the period from a Swedish defenseman! 💪 #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ http://plus.espn.com
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ http://watch.sportsnet.ca
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— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Nylander hustled all the way back to his defensive corner and started the breakout. He wasn’t done. He busted his butt up the ice and stole the defenders attention as he used his speed to enter the zone. It left Karlsson wide open and #65 made no mistake.
Sweden wasn’t able to carry the lead into intermission. Mikko Rantanen was able to curl off and get an east to west pass over to Olli Maatta who made the smart decision of trying to find a teammate back post instead of taking a bad angle show with a low chance of going in. He had two teammates to choose from with the captain Barkov being the last to touch the puck
The Finnish captain joins in on the fun! 😁 #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ http://plus.espn.com
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ http://watch.sportsnet.ca
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— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 3:13 PM
The third period didn’t yield any goals and it led to the aforementioned overtime where Finland delivered the knockout blow to their main rival. It was Mikael Granlund tricking Ullmark for the final tally.
MIKAEL GRANLUND WINS IT FOR FINLAND IN OVERTIME! 🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮 #4Nations
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— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Karlsson did what he should have done on the 2v1 by allowing Ullmark to focus on the shot as opposed to a royal road pass through. Despite this, Ullmark looked fooled by Granlund glancing over for the pass even though it was covered.
It was a great game and one worthy of the long standing Sweden/Finland rivalry. This of course puts Sweden in a tough spot moving forward.
Finland keeps pace with an OT win over Sweden! #4Nations
Next up for these two teams ⬇️
🇫🇮: Canada vs. Finland on February 17 at 1p ET on @NHL_On_TNT, @SportsonMax, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports
🇸🇪: Sweden vs. USA on February 17 at 8p ET on @NHL_On_TNT, @SportsonMax, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports
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— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The best thing for Sweden at this point would be for a Canadian win in regulation tonight keeping the Americans at 3 standings points. Sweden would then have to beat the Americans to pull into the second slot. Then Canada would have to beat Finland paving the way for a Sweden appearance in the final.
An American win in regulation would keep Canada at two points. The issue here is that even if Sweden beats the Americans in regulation, a Canadian win in regulation over Finland would propel Canada into the final due to head to head tiebreaker.
For now, all the Scandinavian teams can do is wait for the result of tonight’s game.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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