Where: Bell Centre, Montreal.
When: Saturday at 19.00.
What: Four Nations.
TV/Radio: TV6/Viaplay and P4.
Blue-yellow victory last time: Sweden won the last meeting in a big context, the World Championship quarterfinal in Ostrava in May. Then Sweden was a big favorite with a star-studded team, but it was not until the extension that Joel Eriksson Ek scored the winning goal, 2–1.
Finland licking their wounds: Horrible 1–6 defeat against USA. Finland's premiere match was promising for 37 minutes (1–1) – then the team fell apart and let in five straight goals. For the meeting with Sweden, the Finns change goalkeeper, out with Juuse Saros and in with 2019's World Championship gold hero Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver.
The final hunt: The team that wins will continue to hunt for a spot in the final in Four Nations. The loser will have a hard time getting there. After the first round, USA tops the table with 3 points, Canada has 2, Sweden 1 and Finland 0 points.
Canada and USA meet on Sunday night and in the last round on Monday/Tuesday night, Canada plays Finland and USA meets Sweden. Both these matches are played in Boston.
Sweden
Goalkeepers: 32 Filip Gustavsson (35 Linus Ullmark, 30 Samuel Ersson).
Defensive pairs: 77 Victor Hedman, 25 Jonas Brodin – 14 Mattias Ekholm, 65 Erik Karlsson – 42 Gustav Forsling, 26 Rasmus Dahlin – 4 Rasmus Andersson.
Lines: 67 Rickard Rakell, 93 Mika Zibanejad, 88 William Nylander – 9 Filip Forsberg, 40 Elias Pettersson, 10 Adrian Kempe – 23 Lucas Raymond, 20 Joel Eriksson Ek, 63 Jesper Bratt – 12 Gustav Nyquist, 28 Elias Lindholm, 33 Viktor Arvidsson – 91 Leo Carlsson.
Finland
Goalkeepers: 32 Kevin Lankinen (74 Juuse Saros, 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen).
Defensive pairs: 23 Esa Lindell, 3 Olli Määttä – 10 Henri Jokiharju, 77 Niko Mikkola – 18 Urho Vaakanainen, 33 Nikolas Matinpalo – 6 Juuso Välimäki.
Lines: 62 Artturi Lehkonen, 16 Aleksander Barkov, 96 Mikko Rantanen – 24 Roope Hintz, 20 Sebastian Aho, 92 Patrik Laine – 15 Anton Lundell, 64 Mikael Granlund, 27 Eetu Luostarinen – 86 Teuvo Teräväinen, 56 Erik Haula, 40 Joel Armia – 84 Kaapo Kakko.
