"It sucks and hurts to lose to Finland now. I feel like we're not getting any momentum in the match," national team captain Sam Hallam told SVT.
Finland stopped Tre Kronor from a final place in the Four Nations last year and the loss on Friday the 13th could mean that the Swedes are beaten to the group victory in the Olympics.
Sweden closes out the group stage against Slovakia on Saturday and it could be a thriller. A Swedish victory in regular time is a must, and Tre Kronor must win by a four-goal margin.
If Sweden, Slovakia and Finland all end up with six points, a mini-table will be made from these three teams' head-to-head matches to determine the table order.
The match against Finland at Santagiulia Arena was also a painful experience for Sam Hallam's national team.
After Sweden's shaky 5–2 start in Italy, Filip Gustavsson, the Minnesota goalie, got his chance again. He was unhappy when Finland – who surprisingly fell in the opener against Slovakia – took a 2–0 lead in the first period.
Dahlin scores for Sweden
He had a clear view when Nikolas Matinpalo shot from the blue line - but the puck still went in. Then he turned the puck into the scramble in front of his own net for Finland's 2-0 - Anton Lundell was credited as the scorer.
The Swedes responded, and when Rasmus Dahlin first blasted in to make it 2-1 on the power play and Sweden then got another power play, it looked hopeful.
Instead, Finland scored 3–1 while Sweden was on the power play.
It is unnecessary that we concede a goal on the power play. There is a lack of final sharpness. It is not about power or energy; we see in the third that we create more hunger for their goal. It is not that complicated," Hallam said.
Erik Haula won a corner battle against three Swedes and got the puck to an unmarked Joel Armia, who was able to outsmart Gustavsson.
Forsberg got playing time
Filip Forsberg, Sweden's top scorer in the NHL, was once again the 13th forward, but was rotated in more often and matched up frequently in the third period. He had a couple of good chances and showed his class when he lobbed a pass to Lucas Raymond, who, however, failed to outsmart Finnish goalie Juuse Saaros.
The Swedes chased fruitlessly in the third period - despite a couple of power plays and several good chances.
Instead, Finland made it 4-1 through Mikko Rantanen into an empty net after Sweden pulled Gustavsson.
