Finland Player Ratings: Granlund propels near-historic comeback
While Finland may be officially out, their efforts were admirable, as they nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages against Canada. Kristina Rutherford grades how looked in their finale, which they made mighty exciting in the last few minutes.
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Finland nearly pulled off a comeback upset for the ages.
Down three goals with five minutes to go against Canada, Finland’s Mikael Granlund scored twice in 23 seconds to pull his team within one before Canadian captain Sidney Crosby potted the empty-netter, giving his team a 5-3 win and punching Canada’s ticket to a highly anticipated 4 Nations Face-Off final against the Americans.
But Finland isn’t out without an incredibly admirable fight. They were down 4-0 until 6:41 to go in the third, when defender Esa Lindell put his team on the board, banging one off the post and in. Finnish goalie Juuse Saros was pulled with more than five minutes on the clock to give Finland the extra attacker and spur the comeback effort.
Canada got goals from household names like Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon (he got two), forced a goalie change in the second, and looked to have this in the bag until Finland came alive offensively late in the third. The Finns trailed 4-3 with 1:17 to go and didn’t give up until the final buzzer sounded on Monday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd in Boston.
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While Finland may be officially out, the team gets extra marks for being the smallest country here by far (home to just 5.5 million) and still ensuring their last game was meaningful, while causing some major panic among Canadians.
Here’s how Finland looked in their finale, which they made mighty exciting in the last few minutes.
Mikael Granlund, 10/10
He scored twice in the dying minutes, his second goal coming when he ripped a wrist shot from the slot — top shelf, blocker side — to bring Finland within one. The best part? As he celebrated with teammates, Granlund looked up at the clock to see how much time was left (1:17) for Finland to try to even this thing up. It was Granlund who scored the OT winner for his country in their win over Sweden on Saturday, too. Heroic efforts again from No. 64.
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Aleksander Barkov, 9/10
The captain assisted Granlund’s second goal, and all game long he was strong at both ends of the ice, getting his chances while also managing to limit Canada’s top scorers. Barkov was usually out there when Finland looked exciting offensively. He fed linemate Artturi Lehkonen with a beauty pass in front in the first period, but Lehkonen couldn’t connect. Binnington made a big pad save on Barkov in the second after Barkov won the faceoff back and then jumped on the rebound. He blocked a MacKinnon shot on the open net late in the third period, too. Barkov led all Finnish forwards with 24:37 of ice time.
Mikko Rantanen, 6/10
He was quiet during this tournament overall considering his usually flashy skill, with just one power-play goal in Game 2 against Sweden. Rantanen did step up on Monday and fired a team-leading five shots on net. He had a good look on a power play in the second period, but his one-timer went just wide.
Artturi Lehkonen, 6/10
He sat the third period of Game 2 and was moved off the first line, but Lehkonen was back with Line 1 on Monday, and he, Barkov and Rantanen generated some good scoring chances. Lehkonen knocked the net off trying to one-time a Barkov pass. He had a briefly wide-open net late in the second but couldn’t corral the bouncing puck.
Sebastian Aho, 6/10
Aho made a beautiful pass to Granlund in the slot on Granlund’s second goal of the afternoon. But like Rantanen, Aho was quieter than expected offensively in this tournament. His line was big in limiting chances from Canada’s top lines, but couldn’t get much cooking in the offensive zone. Aho has been dominant for Finland on the world stage in the past, with 36 points in 28 games in World Championship play.
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4 Nations Face-Off on Sportsnet
The inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off is here with the top players from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States going head-to-head in the highly anticipated best-on-best event. Watch all the games on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
Roope Hintz, 6/10
Hintz finished minus-1, but his hard work was on display. He blocked a shot, and was on his knees digging for the puck in the second period on the power play, while Finland was down 4-0.
Anton Lundell, 7/10
One of the game’s best at both ends, Lundell had a tough assignment in keeping tabs on Canada’s offensive stars in this one and finished the game minus-2. He led some breakouts out of the defensive zone, and his best chance came when he streaked down the left wing in the third period, but Binnington made the pad save.
Patrik Laine, 7/10
After figuring big with two assists in Finland’s win against Sweden, Laine was pretty quiet offensively against Canada until late in the third, when he one-timed a couple shots from the wing on the power play while Finland had the empty net and extra attacker. One of Laine’s powerful shots led to a rebound that then led to Granlund’s first goal. For much of the game, Laine’s line with Aho and Eetu Luostarinen was up against guys like McDavid and MacKinnon.
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Eetu Luostarinen, 5/10
He finished the game minus-2, and no Finn saw less ice time than his 10:20.
Kaapo Kakko 6/10
His fourth line was out there against MacKinnon’s line on the second shift of the game and stood no chance. Kakko, who figured big in Finland’s win against Sweden while playing with Barkov and Rantanen, managed to create some offence on Monday against Canada, and he had a good chance in close after an expired Finnish power play. He had three shots.
Joel Armia, 6/10
He played Game 1 but wasn’t in the lineup against Sweden, then got slotted in on the fourth line against Canada in favour of Teuvo Teravainen. Armia was noticeably quick out there early in the game, and on one backcheck he turned the puck over and brought it the other way. But his line was exposed against Canada’s top scorers.
Erik Haula, 6/10
His line was out there against MacKinnon’s early on and it didn’t end well. Haula had one of Finland’s best chances in the second period after getting a pass in tight from Armia, which led to a Finnish powerplay, though they didn’t manage to convert.
Esa Lindell, 10/10
He scored Finland’s first goal to tee up an eventual near comeback. Lindell came off the boards at the hash marks, then fired a rocket of a wrist shot off the far post and in. And now he deserves a good, long rest. Lindell paced Finnish defenders in every game, and Monday was no different, with 27:21 of ice time.
Niko Mikkola, 8/10
He fired a few rockets from the point, and even when Finland was down 4-0, Mikkola was driving offence from the Finnish blueline, and he finished the game plus-1. He managed to clear the puck during some potentially dangerous moments in the game and used his big frame to win battles and keep Canada’s scorers to the outside.
Nikolas Matinpalo, 6/10
On Canada’s third goal, he was out against McDavid’s line and did what he could, sliding to try to block a shot. He also blocked one in the second period that prevented a Canadian goal, just after Finland made a goalie change. Matinpalo led his team with five hits but finished the game minus-3.
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Urho Vaakanainen, 6/10
The Rangers defender also finished the game minus-3, and had some tough assignments on Monday.
Henri Jokiharju, 6/10
He did an admirable job trying to keep sightlines open for his goaltenders. He also blocked a pair of shots.
Olli Maatta, 7/10
He moved the puck well to lead to some sustained pressure for the Finns in the second period, and kept potent Canadian scorers to the outside.
Kevin Lankinen, 6/10
He allowed four goals on 13 shots and was pulled after MacKinnon scored his second of the game to put Canada up 4-0. But Lankinen stood little chance out there. McDavid’s first-period goal, the first of the game, came through traffic and rang off the post and in. It didn’t go much better from there.
Juuse Saros, 10/10
Saros took over with about 15 minutes to go in the second period with his team down 4-0, and he shut down Canada for the rest of the game, making 14 saves (Crosby’s goal came on the empty net). He made a big early save on Crosby, on No. 87’s first shot of the tournament. He stopped a Cale Makar rocket, too. Saros came in cold, played incredibly well and gave his team a chance at a comeback.
