Seattle Kraken forward Kaapo Kakko will make his 4 Nations Face-Off debut, replacing Montreal Canadiens' Joel Armia in Team Finland's lineup.
Seattle Kraken forward Kaapo Kakko will make his 4 Nations Face-Off debut, replacing Montreal Canadiens' Joel Armia in Team Finland's lineup.
Kakko was a healthy scratch for the tournament opener against Team USA, a game in which Finland was dismantled 6-1. Armia took two minor penalties in the loss and was the only Finnish player to play under 10 minutes.
Today, against Sweden, Finland has elected to bring in Kakko, a forward with a better scoring touch, something Finland was lacking against the US.
Sweden nearly completed the comeback against Canada, erasing a 3-1 deficit to force overtime. They had multiple chances in overtime but were turned away by Jordan Binnington before Mitch Marner scored the winner.
Kakko has seen a lot of success at International tournaments with Finland and they'll be banking on that again today. If Finland don't win in regulation today, they'll have a very low chance of making the finals.
Finland and Sweden have a historic rivalry, and it should result in a great game.
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