The Four Nations faceoff continued today as Finland took on their Scandinavian brothers in Sweden.
Unfortunately, the tournament has been mired in drama as Canadian fans continue to boo the American national anthem in response to ongoing political drama.
We did get a break from the drama this afternoon though as neither Canada nor the USA were involved in this afternoon's game.
Instead, we got to see the two Scandinavian countries duke it out. They have been rivals since they were introduced to the sport and that hatred continues to this day.
Sweden has often gotten the best of their neighbors but this time it was the Finns who earned the win.
The game made it to overtime when Dallas Stars forward Mikael Granlund lead a 2-1 against Erik Karlsson defending.
Granlund elected to shoot the puck himself on the play, beating Swedish netminder Linus Ullmark cleanly for the win.
After the game, Finish forward Patrik Laine chirped Sweden saying, "We're the big brother now."
This seems to be a reference to the fact that Sweden has always assumed a big-brother type role in the rivalry with their bigger population and more consistent success in international tournaments.
Laine played a big role in Finland's upset victory over Sweden, going +1 with three hits and assisting on half of the team's goals.
He even earned the honor of being named second star of the game.
Hopefully, this success will help Laine come out of his scoring slump he has suffered through in the NHL with the Canadiens.
Who knows, maybe Finland will even take home the Four Nations trophy!
POLL | ||
FEVRIER 15 | 602 ANSWERS Patrik Laine Takes a Shot at Sweden After Four Nations Overtime Victory Who do you think will win the Four Nations tournament? | ||
Canada | 265 | 44 % |
USA | 303 | 50.3 % |
Sweden | 4 | 0.7 % |
Finland | 30 | 5 % |
List of polls |