NHL
Finland have beaten their bitter rivals Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Mikael Granlund's winning goal, giving them their first win of the tournament.
Kevin Lankinen made two big saves in overtime, one on Mika Zibanejad and the other on Adrian Kempe, before Granlund beat Linus Ullmark 1:49 into the extra period.
Zibanejad, Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson scored for Sweden, while Anton Lundell, Mikko Rantanen and Aleksander Barkov scored for Finland.
GO FURTHER
How Finland stunned Sweden with huge OT win: takeaways
Coming up at 8pm ET is the one all of us in North America have been waiting for: the United States taking on Canada.
You can follow our live coverage of that one here!
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Finland 4, Sweden 3 (Overtime)
Sweden head coach Sam Hallam says he pulled Filip Gustavsson after the first period because of illness.
Gustavsson allowed two goals on four shots in the first period. Linus Ullmark allowed two goals on 17 shots in relief.
Teemu Selanne and Peter Forsberg bet a beer on today's rivalry game. Selanne says he’s looking for Forsberg now to make sure he pays up.
Aleksander Barkov speaking after Finland's win: “Honestly I didn’t expect Granny to shoot when he had a 3-on-1, but I’m so glad he did because he has an amazing shot.”
Erik Haula on one of his closest friends, Mikael Granlund: “He’s done so much for Finnish hockey and he rises to another level in these games.”
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I was pretty excited about this tournament and getting to see any level of best-on-best in the men's game as a primer to future Olympics World Cups, and wow has 4 Nations delivered so far.
So if the U.S. wins in regulation tonight, they're through to Thursday's championship game in Boston. And Canada would need a win against Finland on Monday to join them. Probably in regulation.
If Canada wins in regulation tonight, it's chaos.
High stakes the rest of the way.
Patrik Laine to Emily Kaplan: "We're the big brother now."
What a beauty.
Finland was fantastic in this one. Huge third period.
The Granlund-Aho-Hintz line dominated their minutes.
As for Sweden, that’s two consecutive overtime losses. This one may sting a little bit more because they were the favorites in this matchup. The fact that they battled back against Canada and forced overtime was challenging enough. But after this lost opportunity, Sweden somehow has to find a way past Team USA on Monday — and that may not even be enough depending on how tonight’s game goes.
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Put that Kevin Lankinen save on Mika Zibanejad in the opening seconds of overtime on a Finnish postage stamp. Twenty-one saves on 24 shots doesn't look so great on the scoresheet, but Lankinen came up big when Finland needed him to. He has to keep the net for the Canada game now.
Wow, what a game. Finland, the ultimate underdog in the tournament, earns two points over Sweden. Playing in San Jose really revitalized Granlund’s offensive game, which is why the Stars traded for him ahead of the break. Maybe this high-pressure environment will be a primer for a nice return to the postseason in the spring for him.
The NHL can't ask for much more than that.
OT 8:11 – Finland 4, Sweden 3
Kempe steams down the right wing, leaving his defender in his wake. He turns the puck on net and Lankinen doesn't know where it is! It slips through the crease and exits on the opposite side. A huge let-off for Finland.
Just seconds later, Granlund leads a rush the other way down his right wing. He goes for it himself and beats Ullmark through the five-hole!
OT 10:00 – Finland 3, Sweden 3
3-on-3 action is underway!
An immediate chance for Sweden as Lankinen denies Zibanejad with a kick save!
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The overtime point for Finland and Sweden means they both remain alive heading into the tournament's final day of play in Boston on Monday.
There is only so much to learn from a tournament setting, especially one as short as this. But the 10-minute overtime expansion was a highlight in Game 1, and should absolutely slap today. And the 3-2-1-0 point system is getting its moment today. Any points will help Sweden and Finland (just the fact that Finland did not lose in regulation saved them from getting mathematically eliminated). But these teams getting capped at two points now, with the game going to overtime, has big implications moving forward as well. NHL, take notes.
Sixty minutes aren't enough to separate these bitter rivals and we're headed to overtime!
A result that suits neither team, really, as both earn a point but can no longer earn all three that a regulation win would have given them.
Overtime consists of 10 minutes of 3-on-3 action. If we're still tied after that, we head to a shootout.
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