Finland keeping pair of Panthers on same line, Matthew Tkachuk on PP1 for Team USA
Gustav Forsling practiced with Team Sweden after missing Monday's skate due to an illness
Day two of 4 Nations practices brought some more clarity into where several Florida Panthers players will be lining up when the games begin.
The tournament officially kicks off on Wednesday when Team Canada and Team Sweden meet at Bell Centre in Montreal.
All four nations held their first practices on Monday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, the Montreal Canadiens training facility.
Finland only had 11 skaters on the ice during Monday’s practice, but the full Finnish squad was on the ice Tuesday at Bell Centre.
To no surprise, team captain Sasha Barkov centered the top line with Mikko Rantanen on his left and Artturi Lehkonen on the right.
Panthers teammates Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen were paired up on the third line with Mikael Granlund, which could be a sneaky strong two-way unit.
Lundell and Luostarinen have a very tight kinship.
They have been playing on the same forward line for three seasons now, learning and growing together while cutting their teeth in the NHL and racking up that invaluable playoff experience with the Panthers.
Defensively, Niko Mikkola was paired up with Esa Lindell on what could end up being Finland’s top pairing, as the nation has been decimated by injures on the back line.
Three blueliners who otherwise would be on the team – Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpaa and Rasmus Ristolainen – are all out due to injury.
Earlier Tuesday morning, Team USA was the first group to take the ice for practice in Montreal.
One new thing we learned from the Americans was their power play makeup, at least to start.
To no surprise, Tkachuk found himself in a familiar spot, lining up netfront on the top power play unit.
Also to no surprise, Matthew’s brother Brady was in the same spot on power play two.
Panthers Swedish defenseman Gus Forsling missed Monday’s practice due to an illness, but he was on the ice with his countrymen on Tuesday.
Forsling lined up with Rasmus Dahlin on a defensive pairing and is expected to see a good amount of ice time throughout the tournament.
Sweden's first game is against Canada on Wednesday night.
Canadian Head Coach Jon Cooper said Tuesday that his game one starting goaltender would be Jordan Binnington.
Sam Hallam, Sweden's Head Coach, said he wasn’t going to revel his starter until Wednesday.
All four nations took their group photos on the ice.
While the Americans did not have the Tkachuk brothers next to each other, which felt like a fail, Team Canada did slot the two Florida Sams, Bennett and Reinhart, side by side, so that was nice to see.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
