Saturday afternoon didn’t go as planned for Sweden and Mattias Ekholm at the 4 Nations Face-Off falling 4-3 in overtime to Finland.
While they opened the game strong with Mika Zibanejad scoring 8:35 into the first period, that lead would evaporate before their eyes before 20 minutes hit the clock. Finland would roar back with two goals on four shots, chasing Swedish starter Filip Gustavsson from the crease.
Eetu Loustarinen would set up Anton Lundell, as the two Panthers beat their NHL teammate Gustav Forsling on a two-on-one 10:58 into the period. After Victor Hedman tripped up Sebastian Aho with less than a minute left in the first period, it would take the Finns just 12 seconds to convert, as Mikko Rantanen extended the lead to 2-1.
Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm was on the ice for that power play marker, failing to defend a Patrik Laine pass across the ice.
Sweden would open up with a stronger second period, finding two goals in the first 10:32 of the period. Rasmus Dahlin would get the first 5:06 in, sneaking down from the blue line and cleaning up a loose puck in the blue paint. Erik Karlsson, meanwhile, made it a 3-2 game, jumping up in the rush, finding open space and capitalizing on a William Nylander pass.
Linus Ullmark would help steady the ship in that second, but he still struggled. With just under three minutes left in the frame, Olli Maatta would catch Ullmark out of position, feeding a pass through the crease that would bounce off Kaapo Kakko, and then deflected in by Aleksander Barkov. Ekholm, once again, found himself on the ice for this goal against, failing to box out Barkov and Kakko from the crease.
A plotting third period would pick up late as both teams pushed for a regulation win, but the game would be sent to overtime.
Adrian Kempe had a look for Sweden, driving low but failing to beat Kevin Lankinen. Finnish defenceman Niko Mikkola would shovel the rebound to Mikael Granlund, who raced up the wing and first a shot that beat Ullmark on the short side.

Backhanders…

  • Edmonton Oilers Mattias Ekholm and Viktor Arvidsson both struggled in the game, as the former saw a notable drop in his ice time amid some poor defensive plays. After playing 19:30 against Canada in Sweden’s opener, that number would drop to 16:03 on Saturday afternoon. With him on the ice Sweden was outscored 2-0. Arvidsson, meanwhile, saw a dip in his ice time, too, falling from 10:08 to 9:27.
  • Sweden will square off against the United States Monday night, while Finland will take on Canada earlier in the day. With this afternoon’s game having gone to overtime, all four teams stay alive.
  • The Americans, meanwhile, can advance to the championship game with a win over Canada Saturday night.

Highlights…

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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