Finland Eliminated By Canada With Teuvo Teravainen Scratched

Team Finland lost to Team Canada without Teuvo Teravainen in the lineup as he was scratched.

Tuevo Teravainen - Feb. 8 Chicago Blackhawks Media Availability postgame

The only Chicago Blackhawks representative at the Four Nations Faceoff is Teuvo Teravainen of Team Finland. After playing under seven minutes of their win over Sweden on Saturday, it was clear that the Finnish weren’t utilizing one of their best forwards properly.

On Monday, instead of giving him more ice against a highly skilled Team Canada, they scratched him from the game in favor of Joel Armia. This is a curious decision because only four players on team Finland have a better point per game in the NHL this season.

Once the game started, it was clear that Canada had the overall advantage. First, Connor McDavid scored, taking advantage of Roope Hintz's bad play and Team Finland's inconsistent play.

Instead of falling out of the game after going up 1-0, as they did against Team USA on Saturday, Canada continued to push. Nathan MacKinnon scored under a minute later to make it 2-0 Canada.

Brayden Point joined in on the fun with his first tournament goal to make it 3-0 Canada. That goal was huge for them because Finland was just starting to push back. With Canada’s suspect goaltending in this tournament, they need all the goals they can get.

In the third period, the Finnish did what the Finnish consistently do best. They stayed resilient and played a hard game until the very end. They always know how to punch up to their opponents.

By scoring three goals late in the third, they gave themselves a chance to tie it by getting within one. It was as wild of a finish to this game as anyone could have asked for.

Despite Finland's late surge, Sidney Crosby sealed it for Canada by throwing one into the empty net. The 5-3 score held as the victory. With this victory, Canada advances to the 4-Nations Face-Off championship against Team USA.

As for Teravainen and Finland, they are out. Although they could have been a bit smarter with their forward distribution throughout, they played hard against teams with more talent than them.

That rematch between Team USA and Team Canada will take place on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston.

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