Finland responded to its opening-game drubbing against the USA with an overtime win against Sweden in both country’s second game in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Forward Mikael Granlund scored the winning goal one minute and 49 seconds into the 10-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period to give Finland two points in the standings and move it ahead of Sweden, which suffered its second overtime loss.
MIKAEL GRANLUND WINS IT FOR FINLAND IN OVERTIME! #4Nations pic.twitter.com/QpqTYRtGKG
— NHL (@NHL) February 15, 2025
Finland lost 6-1 to USA on Thursday, becoming the only nation to fail to register a point in the first set of games. Sweden earned one point with its 4-3 overtime Wednesday loss to Canada.
The two nations were in the same group at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Finland won the teams’ preliminary-round game, also 4-3 in overtime, en route to a gold medal finish.
Granlund, 32, was the only player on either side to appear in both the 2022 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations games.
In late January, NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin wrote about Granlund’s importance as a veteran leader on Finland’s national team.
“The first thing that comes to mind is his experience,” Finland coach Antti Pennanen said.
Granlund reflected on the importance of playing on the national team.
“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of, playing for the country,” Granlund said, adding, “Hockey is such a big thing in Finland and being able to play for the country, it’s always exciting.”
Finland plays Canada in its final game of the Round Robin stage on Monday (1 p.m. ET, TNT).
Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans
