Heading into Saturday afternoon of the 4 Nations Face-Off, Sweden met Finland at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Both teams needed to earn a major win against one another.
Sweden fell 4-3 in overtime in the first 4 Nations Face-Off game this past Wednesday against Canada, and Finland got crushed 6-1 against the United States this past Thursday.
As both teams got the chance to play against one another, one current Ottawa Senators player and three ex-Senators from Sweden didn't do enough to help Sweden win. Finland defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime. Both teams have two points for the 4 Nations Face-Off standings.
Ullmark, Gustavsson, Zibanejad and Karlsson don't do enough for Sweden
Two ex-Senators each scored a goal in the game. After going pointless against Canada, Mika Zibanejad scored the first goal of the game for Sweden 8:35 into the game. With the game tied at two in the second period, Erik Karlsson scored a goal to give Sweden a 3-2 lead. Karlsson has recorded a point in both of Sweden's games in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Erik Karlsson finds the twine for the second goal of the period from a Swedish defenseman! 💪 #4Nations
— NHL (@NHL) February 15, 2025
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Ex-Senator Filip Gustavsson started Sweden's first game in goal against Canada and had a rough way to start the game when he allowed in two goals in the first period. Today against Finland, Gustavsson allowed in two goals in the first period again, but on four shots on goal from Finland. Gustavsson's struggles led to Linus Ullmark taking over in between the pipes at the start of the second period.
Ullmark remained in between the pipes for Sweden for the remainder of the game. In the overtime loss, Ullmark made 15 saves in 41:38 of ice time. Finland's Mikael Granlund scored the overtime winner on Ullmark just 1:49 into overtime. Even with Zibanejad and Karlsson each scoring a goal, and Ullmark keeping Sweden in the game after Gustavsson's poor performance, it wasn't enough for Sweden to earn the win.
Senators defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo had a rough final 40 minutes in Finland's first game against the United States. Today, Matinpalo recorded zero points again and had the lowest ice time among Finnish defensemen of 13:16.
Sweden will return to play in the 4 Nations Face-Off when they face the United States at 1 p.m. ET on Monday. The scene shifts from Bell Centre in Montreal to TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.