Sweden has made a pair of lineup changes ahead of their must-win game against the United States Monday night.
Two of the Oilers’ three players at the 4 Nations Face-Off will draw out, as Mattias Ekholm and Viktor Arvidsson will be replaced by Rasmus Andersson and Leo Carlsson.
It looks like Leo Carlsson and Rasmus Andersson will make their tournament debuts for Team Sweden 🇸🇪. Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm look like the healthy scratches.
— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) February 17, 2025
While Ekholm had a strong performance against Canada last week, it wasn’t the case in Sweden’s 4-3 loss to Finland. He was on the ice for two big goals against, and missed coverages on goals scored by Mikko Rantanen and Aleksander Barkov.
With Ekholm on the ice, Sweden has controlled 52.8 percent of the shot attempt share, 51.9 percent of the scoring chance share and 43.9 percent of the expected goal share. They’ve broken even in goals 1-1 in his 33 minutes.
Arvidsson, meanwhile, hasn’t seen much ice-time, playing just 19 minutes at five-on-five in the two games. He saw his ice time dip slightly between Sweden’s game against Canada and the one against Finland, as the Tre Koner look for a different mix in their lineup.
Sweden will mix up their defensive pairings as a result. Viktor Hedman and Jonas Brodin will be on the top pairing, while Gustav Forsling will skate in Ekholm’s spot with Erik Karlsson. The third pair will feature Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Andersson.
Carlsson, meanwhile, is expected to skate on Sweden’s third line with Elias Pettersson and Filip Forsberg.
Sweden AM lines:
Bratt-Zibanejad-Nylander
Kempe-Eriksson Ek-Raymond
Forsberg-Pettersson-Carlsson
Nyquist-Lindholm-Rakell
Hedman-Brodin
Forsling-Karlsson
Dahlin-Andersson
Ekholm-Arvidsson
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) February 17, 2025
The Americans will also mix things up in their lineup, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Jake Oettinger gets the start over Connor Hellebuyck, while Matthew Tkachuk will miss the game dealing with a lower-body ailment. Chris Kreider will replace him in the lineup, while Jake Sanderson is expected to slide in and replace Charlie McAvoy.
The game is scheduled for a 6:00 pm MST start time Monday night.
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.
