Vancouver Canucks
How Canucks Elias Pettersson And Kevin Lankinen Fared At The 4 Nations Face-Off
The lone two Canucks players in the tournament were unable to clinch a ticket to the championship game.
With Team Canada taking a 5–3 win against Finland on Monday, both Vancouver Canucks Elias Pettersson and Kevin Lankinen were ousted from the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game. As Team Sweden and Team Finland’s players begin training for the resumption of the NHL regular season, let’s take a look at how Vancouver’s two players performed during the tournament.
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Elias Pettersson
Many hypothesized that the 4 Nations Face-Off would be a place of redemption for Pettersson. Currently in the middle of a lacklustre season filled with changes to the roster, injuries, and more, this tournament was viewed as a place for Pettersson to let loose and regain his confidence. Playing alongside the likes of Filip Forsberg and Adrian Kempe, he had the tools to contribute to Sweden’s offense while contributing from a defensive standpoint as well. However, in a tournament surging with offensive firepower, Pettersson never really ended up finding his footing. He played his tournament-high of 16:31 minutes in Sweden’s first game against Canada, and registered a low of 9:54 last night against Team USA. Despite the low ice time in this game, he recorded Sweden’s second-highest minutes spent on the power play with 3:20. In three tournament games, he tallied two shots on net and won six of 23 faceoffs.
Kevin Lankinen
Lankinen didn’t get any game-day action until Saturday, when he suited up to lead Finland to a 4–3 overtime win over Sweden. Despite letting in three goals, he shut the door after Erik Karlsson’s goal at 10:32 in the second period and saved every shot against him after that. During the extra frame, he made two stunning saves, one of which set up the game-winning goal scored by Mikael Granlund. This performance earned him the start on Monday in Boston, against a hungry Team Canada that was looking for retribution after being beaten 3–1 by Team USA on Saturday night. It was an unfortunate showing for Lankinen, who let in four goals over a 25-minute span on the ice. After Nathan MacKinnon scored his second goal of the game, Lankinen was pulled, leaving Juuse Saros to man the net for his team.
All in all, both Canucks players left the 4 Nations Face-Off with disappointing results. However, with Vancouver’s first game back from the break happening on Saturday, both players will have a chance to catch their breath before resuming play with a back-to-back against the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club.
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