Barkov, Lundell come up big for Finland, creating 4 Nations logjam behind Team USA
Canada, Sweden and Finland are all tied with two points heading into Monday's final preliminary round games
The first ever Four Nations Face-off kicked into high gear on Saturday, and several Florida Panthers players were directly involved.
The first game of the day featured Finland keeping their tournament hopes alive with an overtime win over Sweden.
After falling behind off a turnover, Panthers center Anton Lundell got the Finns right back into the game with a goal 2:23 later off a primary assist from Florida linemate Eetu Luostarinen.
Finland would fall behind again during the middle frame but a late period power play goal by Finnish captain Sasha Barkov sent the game into the third knotted at three.
A big scare came at the end of the second period when Barkov tried blocking an attempt at wrapping the puck around the boards with the inside of his skate boot.
He skated gingerly to the bench and limped into the locker room after the period ended a few moments later, but was out on the ice for the start of the third and appeared no worse for the wear as the game went on.
Finland pulled out the thanks to a Mikael Granlund goal 1:49 into overtime that came off a primary assist from Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola, giving the Suomi two points and pulling them even with Sweden and Canada in the 4 Nations standings.
That will lead us to an interesting slate on Monday, with Team USA locked into their spot in the final and the three remaining teams, Finland, Sweden and Canada, locked into a tie with only one game to claim their spot.
Remember, it’s three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss, and the tiebreaker if two teams end up tied in points is the head-to-head matchup between those teams.
See you in Boston!
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
