Sweden Player Ratings: Zibanejad leads offence with improved performance

As they have so many times before, the underdog Finns took the glory on Saturday afternoon, outplaying the doubt that’s been heaped upon them over the course of this tournament. And on the other side, Sweden finds themselves picking up the pieces as the only team in this tournament without a win to their name.

The historic rivalry between the two nations was simmering heading into Saturday’s meeting, the Swedes talking of sending a message to their “little brother,” the Finns looking to show the depth of their distaste for the nickname.

After he and his countrymen did just that with a statement overtime victory, Patrik Laine made that sentiment clear in a post-game interview with Emily Kaplan — “We’re the big brother now,” the Finnish winger said with a grin.

Here’s a closer look at how each member of the Swedish squad fared on Saturday:

William Nylander: 6 / 10
The Toronto Maple Leafs winger came up with an excellent play to set up Sweden’s third goal of the night — a signature rush up ice before dishing to Erik Karlsson for the snipe — and he factored into Sweden’s first, too, digging in the offensive zone to help win the puck back before Mika Zibanejad tallied one early. Still, aside from those two plays and a few other sequences, Nylander still seemed to lack the poise and creativity he usually displays out on the sheet.

Mika Zibanejad: 8 / 10
It was a much-improved night for Zibanejad after a quiet performance in Sweden’s opening tilt. The New York Rangers pivot looked more like the offensive force he’s shown himself to be during his time in Manhattan, putting a team-leading six shots on net over the course of the tilt. His finest moment came eight minutes in, when he snapped a quick shot by Kevin Lankinen, starting his side off on the right foot before it all went off the rails.

Adrian Kempe: 7 / 10
After leading the way for Sweden last time out, Kempe had a quieter night this time around, but the Los Angeles Kings talent still made his presence known, continuing to forecheck hard and throw his body around, coming up with some promising offensive sequences, and getting a few good looks on net. The approach earned him a promotion to Sweden’s top line before the night was through.

Elias Pettersson: 5 / 10
Pettersson didn’t offer much for the Swedes in this one. Outside of a few moments with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone, he was a background character for this Swedish performance, and among the least-used forwards on the squad by the game’s end.

Filip Forsberg: 7 / 10
Like Zibanejad, Forsberg entered this game fresh off a disappointing tournament-opener, and looked much more the talent we’ve come to know in a Nashville Predators sweater. The veteran came up with a moment of quality on Sweden’s tying goal early in the second period — a bump play to get the puck to Lucas Raymond and keep play alive, before the goal sequence seconds later — and had a couple dangerous chances throughout. With his skill-set, there still seems to be more to give, but he finished the night with the second-most shots on the team, the most hits and the most blocks.

Rickard Rakell: 4 / 10
The Pittsburgh Penguins winger had a few good moments here and there, but overall had a forgettable performance. A messy scramble in the first period led to a trip to the penalty box for Rakell, and he was eventually replaced on the top line by Kempe.

Jesper Bratt: 7 / 10
Dotted among a number of bigger names, Bratt continues to quietly be one of Sweden’s best. As was the case last time out, the New Jersey Devils winger looked calm, collected and dangerous every time he had the puck on his stick. His best sequence came on Sweden’s tying goal — after his countrymen had been hemmed in their own zone by the Finns, Bratt took hold of the puck, carried it to safety and helped set up a quality o-zone shift, keeping the play alive with flashes of skill at multiple points, before his linemates set up the eventual goal.

Joel Eriksson Ek: 7 / 10
Along with Bratt, Eriksson Ek has been consistently solid through two games. He forechecks hard in the offensive zone, makes simple, smart plays in his own zone, and continues to funnel the puck north whenever he’s out there. The Minnesota Wild pivot was crucial on the tying goal mentioned above, going hard to the net and sweeping the puck with one hand over to Rasmus Dahlin, who eventually potted the goal.

Lucas Raymond: 7 / 10
The third member of the team’s most consistently solid line, the young Detroit Red Wings talent has largely looked at home on this best-on-best stage, showing more poise with the puck on his stick than plenty of the veterans around him. He came up with some dangerous chances throughout, including a quality look in overtime before the Finns ended it, and earned an assist on Dahlin’s goal, with his shot from the point spurring the netfront battle that led to the tally. 

Gustav Nyquist: 5 / 10
He was the least-used Swedish forward for the second straight game. While he forechecked hard throughout, it was Nyquist’s line who got bested on Finland’s third goal of the night, which tied it up and opened the door for an eventual overtime win.

Elias Lindholm: 5 / 10
As was the case in his side’s first game of the tournament, Lindholm came up with some nice physicality in his limited minutes, forechecking hard and finishing checks, and was given some shifts higher up in the lineup late in the game. He finished tied for the team lead in hits, but didn’t offer much else.

Viktor Arvidsson: 5 / 10
Arvidsson was more noticeable in this one than his two linemates, despite earning the second-fewest minutes of any Swedish forward. He had his looks, and the door was open to show more offensively, but the majority of his chances wound up missing the cage.

Victor Hedman: 6 / 10
For much of the night, the captain was the same steady blue-line presence that he usually is, and his battle along the boards in his own zone helped spur Nylander’s rush up ice on Sweden’s third goal of the evening. That said, Hedman did make things difficult for his club in the final moments of the first period, earning a late tripping call and giving the Finns a timely power play — they cashed in on the opportunity, taking a 2-1 lead and putting Sweden on the back foot going into the middle frame.

Jonas Brodin: 5 / 10
He had some moments of quality to disrupt the Finns’ attack here and there over the course of the night. Most notably, though, he was among the two defenders bested at the netfront by Kaapo Kakko and Aleksander Barkov on the tying goal that brought Finland back to level ground, before they went on to take the win.

Mattias Ekholm: 6 / 10
Ekholm was the other defender on the wrong side of that crucial netfront battle with Kakko and Barkov. But he had his moments defensively throughout the game as well, most notably on a key stop in the third period, when he pushed Sebastian Aho to the outside and disrupted what looked set to be a grade-A chance to bury a game-winner.

Erik Karlsson: 7 / 10
He was among Sweden’s best players to start the tournament, and Karlsson certainly had an impact offensively again, putting pucks on net, setting up teammates for decent looks, and skating the puck out of trouble on more than one occasion. He finished off a great play from Nylander for Sweden’s third goal of the night, joining the rush and showing some all-world poise as he sniped one past Lankinen. Of course, the glory was undone in overtime as Karlsson was the lone man back on the two-on-one that led to Finland’s game-winning goal — the Pittsburgh Penguins defender bit as Mikael Granlund sold the pass, before easily sniping home the winner.

Rasmus Dahlin: 7 / 10
After saving a goal last time out by pulling a puck off the line, the young Buffalo Sabres defender cashed in on the other side of the sheet this time around, finishing off a solid Raymond-Eriksson Ek sequence at the netfront to pull Sweden level early in the second period. On the other side, he got caught pinching early in the game, leaving his blue-line partner exposed on a two-on-one that allowed Finland to tie it up just a few minutes after Zibanejad’s opening goal.

Gustav Forsling: 5 / 10
Like Hedman, the veteran Forsling — who finished as Sweden’s second-most-used defender — was largely a steady presence on the back end, aside from a few costly moments. The Florida Panthers blue-liner was beaten on each of Finland’s first two goals, though neither were particularly favourable conditions, the first coming on a two-on-one, the second on a Finnish power play.

Filip Gustavsson: Incomplete
Sweden’s coach, Sam Hallam, made a point to say post-game that Gustavsson was battling illness Saturday, and was pulled after one period of play because he’s under the weather, rather than because of his performance. The netminder certainly seemed to be struggling early, giving up two goals on four shots in the opening period of the game — though, again, the goals came off a two-on-one and a power-play knuckler. Given the illness factor, and the mostly solid performance he offered last game, it’s tough to hang much of the blame on Gustavsson’s shoulders.

Linus Ullmark: 5 / 10
Ullmark was largely steady after taking over the cage in the second period, and came up with a few timely saves to keep his team in it. That said, he didn’t look exceptional on Finland’s tying goal, and certainly left much to be desired on the overtime winner, biting hard on Granlund’s deception and leaving a hefty five-hole target for the Finnish vet to exploit. If both goalies find themselves healthy and available to play next time out, the Ottawa Senators veteran didn’t exactly plant his flag as the clear-cut No. 1 option.

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