Granlund scores in OT as Finland beats Sweden in 4 Nations thriller
Knocking off Swedes puts Finns right back in it with 1 round-robin game remaining
Mikael Granlund scored at 1:49 of three-on-three overtime as Finland defeated Sweden 4-3 at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday in Montreal.
Anton Lundell, Mikko Rantanen and Aleksander Barkov had the goals in regulation for the Finns against their bitter regional rivals. Kevin Lankinen stopped 21 shots. Patrik Laine had two assists.
Mika Zibanejad, Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson replied for the Swedes.
Filip Gustavsson allowed two goals on four shots in the first period before getting pulled. Linus Ullmark made 15 saves in relief.
Granlund's winner came on a 2-on-1 where he beat Ullmark through the five-hole after the Swedes had a couple off decent looks at the other end.
WATCH l Granlund keeps Finland alive at 4 Nations Face-off:
Sweden also lost 4-3 to Canada in overtime to open the tournament Wednesday, but earned a point in the standings for each extra-time loss. Finland was thumped 6-1 by the United States on Thursday at the round-robin tournament that's a table-setter for the NHL's Olympic return in 2026. Finland picked up two points with Saturday's win.
The Canadians and Americans were set to play later Saturday at the Bell Centre. The event will then shift to Boston. The Finns meet Canada on Monday afternoon, while Sweden plays the U.S. in the night game.
The final goes next Thursday at TD Garden.
Sweden opened the scoring at 8:35 of the first when Zibanejad fired five-hole on Lankinen. The Finns replied at 10:58 when Lundell scored on a two-on-one before Rantanen beat Gustavsson on a power play with 13.9 seconds left in the period.
Sweden turned to Ullmark in goal to start the second and got back even when Dahlin scored at 5:06 of the middle period.
Karlsson pushed his country in front 3-2 off the rush when he took a pass from William Nylander and fired past Lankinen's blocker on the short side at 10:32, but Barkov tied it up again from in tight with 2:55 left before the intermission.
Russia, banned because of its war in Ukraine, and reigning world champion Czech Republic aren't part of the field that's still the closest men's hockey has seen to best-on-best hockey since the 2016 World Cup.
The NHL went to five Olympics between 1998 and 2014 before skipping 2018 for financial reasons. The league then withdrew from the 2022 Games because of COVID-19 concerns.
WATCH l 3 fights in 9 seconds to open U.S.-Canada game:
