Team USA lost its first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday night and also lost a key forward.
Sweden rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the short-handed Americans 2-1 and pick up its first win of the tournament. It was also the USA’s first loss.
Gustav Nyquist and Jesper Bratt scored in the first period after Chris Kreider gave the USA a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the game. Samuel Ersson made the lead stand up with 31 saves.
The game didn’t matter because a USA-Canada final had already been determined when the Canadians beat Finland earlier in the day.
But the USA lost Brady Tkachuk after he slid hard into the net. He went to the dressing room, played one shift after returning then was ruled out in the second period.
The Americans, who opened the tournament 2-0, are dealing with injury issues. Matthew Tkachuk missed the game with a lower-body injury, Captain Auston Matthews was a late scratch and defenseman Charlie McAvoy also sat out.
The USA hopes to be healthier when it plays Canada in the championship game on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
USA-CANADA FINAL: What to know | Odds
The USA can’t connect with their goalie pulled and Sweden pulls out a 2-1 victory for their first win of the tournament. The USA is 2-1 in the round robin and finished with a tournament-best six points.
Jake Oettinger is pulled for an extra skater. USA takes a timeout. Sweden ices the puck with 1:08 left.
Brock Nelson has a breakaway but Samuel Ersson gets his blocker on Nelson’s shot.
Erik Karlsson high-sticks Jake Guentzel after Jack Hughes gets a couple chances in close. Sweden kills off the penalty as Gustav Forsling breaks up a pass on a 2-on-1 effort.
Jack Eichel lays his shoulder into Leo Carlsson’s shoulder and the Anaheim Ducks forward’s helmet goes flying.
USA takes a quick penalty (Adam Fox for cross-checking) but kills it off. Sweden is 0-for-3 on the power play.
No scoring in the period and no Brady Tkachuk. The Team USA forward was hurt in the first period and didn’t return. Vincent Trocheck did play after leaving in the first. Swedish goalie Samuel Ersson, an unexpected starter because of Linus Ullmark’s illness, has 20 saves through two periods.
Filip Forsberg is called for slashing Kyle Connor. Jack Eichel hits the post and Sweden kills it off.
Brock Nelson is all alone in front, but Samuel Ersson makes a big save. Nelson knocks over the goalie afterward.
Brady Tkachuk, who slid hard into the net in the first period, won’t return to the game. He went to the dressing room and skated one short shift after returning.
Noah Hanifin is called for hooking Viktor Arvidsson. USA kills it off.
Brady Tkachuk is not on the bench. Vincent Trocheck has returned.
If the goal of the USA was to improve to 3-0 and stay healthy, it’s not a good start. The start looked great at first because Chris Kreider scored 35 seconds into his first game of the tournament. But Gustav Nyquist and Jesper Bratt gave Sweden the lead before the period ended. Worse news: Brady Tkachuk appears to be hurt, and Vincent Trocheck left the game late in the period. The USA started the game with 11 forwards, so they could be really short now depending on their availability in the second period.
Jesper Bratt takes a pass from William Nylander and rips a shot past a screened Jake Oettinger. Great release. Sweden 2, USA 1
Brady Tkachuk returned to the bench and got in the game. His shot is stopped by Samuel Ersson and Tkachuk immediately skates to the bench. He’s still there.
Gustav Nyquist beats Jake Oettinger with a deflection of an Erik Karlsson shot to tie the game. USA 1, Sweden 1
Matt Boldy is called for interference six seconds after the USA’s power play ends. The Americans kill it off.
Elias Lindholm is called for delay of game. Sweden kills it off.
He lost his balance, slid into the net and grimaced when he got up. He took another shift, but TNT reports that he is not on the bench.
Brady Tkachuk hasn’t fought early like he did against Canada. But he has thrown big hits on Lucas Raymond and Leo Carlsson.
Chris Kreider scores 35 seconds into the game on a rebound of a Zach Werenski shot. Jack Eichel gets the secondary assist. Kreider and Eichel played college hockey in Boston. USA 1, Sweden 0
Can the USA finish 3-0 in the round robin at the 4 Nations?
Date: Feb. 17
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: TNT, truTV
Streaming: Sling and MAX
USA: Forwards Jack Eichel, Brady Tkachuk and Chris Kreider; defensemen Zach Werenski and Noah Hanifin; goalie Jake Oettinger
Sweden: Forwards Elias Lindholm, Lucas Raymond and Adrian Kempe; defenseman Erik Karlsson and Gustav Forsling; goalie Samuel Ersson
Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy and Connor Hellebuyck are the U.S. scratches.
Rickard Rakell, Mika Zibanejad and Linus Ullmark are Sweden’s scratches.
Team USA captain Auston Matthew is dealing with upper-body soreness, so he won’t play, per The Athletic. The USA will go one man short with 11 forwards and six defensemen.
According to NHL.com, forward Chris Kreider will go in the lineup for Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body injury). Defenseman Jake Sanderson will sub in for Charlie McAvoy (upper body). Kreider and Sanderson are making their tournament debuts. Jeremy Swayman will back up Jake Oettinger as No. 1 goalie
Swedish publication Aftonbladet says Linus Ullmark is ill so Samuel Ersson will get the start. The Philadelphia Flyers goalie will be making his first appearance. He was an injury replacement for Jacob Markstrom.
There will be a rematch of the high-intensity USA-Canada game in the 4 Nations Face-Off final.
Canada survived a late scare to defeat Finland 5-3 in Monday’s round-robin finale and give it five points in the tournament. The Canadians hold the tiebreaker against Sweden, so they will face the Americans on Thursday in the championship game.
The United States beat Canada 3-1 in Saturday’s game, which featured three fights in the first nine seconds of the first period.
Canada rebounded Monday with a big game from its stars after shuffling its lines. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, Connor McDavid had a goal and assist, and Sam Reinhart had three assists. Sidney Crosby set up MacKinnon’s second goal and had a key goal.
Finland scored three times in the last seven minutes, including two quick goals by Mikael Granlund, to cut the deficit to 4-3. Crosby put the game away with an empty-netter.
That relieves the pressure on Canada. It’s Crosby’s second point of the game and first goal of the tournament to go along with four assists. Canada 5, Finland 3
It’s his second goal in 23 seconds. Canada 4, Finland 3
Mikael Granlund scores with 2:40 left. Canada 4, Finland 2
Nathan MacKinnon shoots for the empty net for a hat trick but Aleksander Barkov blocks the attempt.
Juuse Saros goes to the bench for an extra skater.
Good passing by Finland on a cycle. Esa Lindell ends up with the puck and beats Jordan Binnington with a shot off the far post with 6:41 left. Canada 4, Finland 1
Still 4-0 Canada. Not much sustained attack from either side. Juuse Saros took a shot off the mask but is fine.
Canada needs to hold this lead to advance to the final.
Canada knocked Finland goalie Kevin Lankinen out of the game with a Nathan MacKinnon goal early in the second period. Juuse Saros has stopped all six shots he has faced, but Finland needs to generate more on offense. They had a couple shots on the power play and 12 overall in the period, but Jordan Binnington was perfect again.
It’s the first penalty of the game as Devon Toews slashes Joel Armia. With 4:35 left in the second period, Finland needs to connect here. It doesn’t as Canada kills it off.
Finland goalie Juuse Saros gets his first big chance against since entering the game. He stops Canada captain Sidney Crosby from in close. Still 4-0 Canada.
Juuse Saros is the net for the first time since losing 6-1 to the USA in the opener. Kevin Lankinen gave four goals on 13 shots.
Nathan MacKinnon scores his second goal of the game. Sidney Crosby makes a quick pass to MacKinnon after getting the puck from Sam Reinhart. That’s two points now for MacKinnon, Reinhart and Connor McDavid in the game. Canada 4, Finland 0
Kevin Lankinen remains in net for Team Finland.
Canada shuffled its lines to get its offense moving and so far it’s working. Connor McDavid has a goal and an assist. Brayden Point, who was moved up to McDavid’s line, has a goal. Nathan MacKinnon has scored. Jordan Binnington has faced only five shots but looks solid. Cale Makar, who has returned from an illness, has played more than eight minutes. If Canada holds the lead, it goes to the final.
Brayden Point scores on a rebound of a Travis Sanheim shot to make it 3-0 at 13:02. Connor McDavid started the rush and picks up his second point of the game. Canada 3, Finland 0
Canada needs a big game from Jordan Binnington to advance. He started with a strong shoulder save on Mikael Granlund and looks good so far.
Nathan MacKinnon uses his speed to get in alone on Kevin Lankinen after a pass from Sam Reinhart. MacKinnon scores 46 seconds after Connor McDavid had given Canada the lead. Canada needed a big game from its top players and has it so far. Finland calls a timeout. Canada 2, Finland 0
Connor McDavid takes advantage of a giveaway by Roope Hintz, circles and rips a shot past a screened Kevin Lankinen. Canada 1, Finland 0
If a team wins in regulation, it reaches the final. Finland is the home team and gets the last line change.
Canada defenseman Cale Makar is in the starting lineup in Monday’s game against Finland. He had missed the last game against the USA because of illness.
Finland and Canada play at 1 p.m. ET at Boston’s TD Garden. Sweden and the USA play at 8 p.m. ET.
Both games will be broadcast on TNT and truTV.
Sling and MAX carry TNT games.
Forward Seth Jarvis, defenseman Thomas Harley and goalie Sam Montembeault are the scratches.
This lineup would mean forward Teuvo Teravainen, defenseman Juuso Valimaki and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would be the scratches.
Canada defenseman Cale Makar is on the ice for the pregame warmup. He had missed the USA-Canada game with illness and is a game-time decision.
St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington will get his third consecutive start for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, per reports. He is 1-1 at the tournament with a 2.46 goals-against average and .896 save percentage.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen will get his consecutive start for Team Finland. He beat Sweden in the second game and has a 2.91 GAA and .875 save percentage.
NHL.com is reporting that USA forward Matthew Tkachuk won’t play against Sweden because of a lower-body injury. Tkachuk played only three shifts in the third period Saturday and spent the rest of the period on the bench.
Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger will start against Sweden in the night game. That will give Connor Hellebuyck a rest before the championship game on Thursday.
(Times p.m. ET)
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