BOSTON — There was some question as to how much Team USA and Team Sweden would care in what was a meaningless final game of the round-robin portion of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday.
Canada had eliminated Sweden earlier in the day when it beat Finland 5-3, and with Team USA having locked up their spot in Thursday’s final when it beat Canada in Montreal on Saturday, there were no consequences to the game Monday night.
Well, except for the fact they were keeping score, and except for the fact there was a Tkachuk involved.
With Matthew Tkachuk sidelined as a precaution after he couldn’t finish the game against Canada with a lower-body injury, Brady Tkachuk did not take long to show this game mattered to him. Poor Leo Carlsson, playing his first game of the tournament. And poor Mattias Ekholm after that.
Brady Tkachuk picked up where he left off, straight LEVELING dudes 😱 pic.twitter.com/bIGKwKbBoG
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2025
That intensity, however, ultimately cost Tkachuk.
Driving the puck hard to the Sweden net in the first period, Tkachuk lost his balance and slid into Sweden goalie Samuel Ersson’s right pad.
Brady Tkachuk has headed to the room after going hard into the net. pic.twitter.com/Qdt8Iw91sq
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 18, 2025
Tkachuk got off the ice slowly and went to the bench. He eventually went back to the USA dressing room, but returned before the period was over, testing out whatever was hurting him during a brief twirl around the ice during a television timeout, stretching out his left leg a few times. He played one shift that lasted 14 seconds after that, and did not come out for the second period.
Team USA coach Mike Sullivan called the decision “precautionary” and said the issue was not likely to be serious.
“I haven’t got an update to this point after the game yet, so we’ll see how he responds,” he said. “But I don’t anticipate it being an issue.”
Tkachuk set a tone the game picked up on
Competitiveness is a hell of a drug.
After a timid start to the game from both sides, the intensity picked up considerably as the game went on. For example, early in the second period, Team USA center Jack Eichel threw a lazy pass into the middle of the ice in his own zone that got picked off by Sweden, a play he absolutely would not have made had this game mattered. By the end of the period, Eichel was backchecking hard and was visibly upset with himself when a one-timer on the power play late in the second was stopped by Ersson, a shot that would have tied the game. He had a backcheck and a stick lift midway through the third period that nullified what looked to be a sure short-handed goal for Jesper Bratt.
The game got progressively more physical as the players seemingly realized if they had to play this meaningless game, might as well win it. The two teams combined for 10 hits in the first period and 16 in the second, and Eichel caught Carlsson with an open ice hit that sent Carlsson’s helmet flying just before the midway point of the third.
These were not the actions of a man who considered the game meaningless.
Even with their ticket booked to Thursday’s championship, Jack Eichel still wants that clean sweep of the round-robin vs. Sweden pic.twitter.com/pruAoIf7nd
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) February 18, 2025
“For a game that, for all intents and purposes, didn’t have significance with respect to the tournament,” Sullivan said, “I thought there was a lot of professionalism from both sides with how hard the groups played.”
A bug provides opportunity for Ersson
Some sort of sickness meant Filip Gustavsson did not finish the game Saturday against Finland, and on Monday some sort of illness also claimed goaltender Linus Ullmark and forwards Mika Zibanejad and Rickard Rakell, as all three were surprise scratches.
That gave Ersson a chance in goal, making Sweden the only team in the tournament to use all three of its goaltenders, and he was excellent, most notably stopping a Brock Nelson breakaway with a little over six minutes left to maintain Sweden’s one-goal lead.
Ersson said he found out after the morning skate that he would be in later that night.
“It’s kind of nice, actually, finding out a little bit later so you don’t really have time to get nervous. But you see it for what it is, it’s just another game, obviously against a very good team.”
Ersson gave his teammates credit for playing well in front of him, but the reality is the United States had a nearly two-to-one edge in expected goals on Sweden, according to Moneypuck, and Ersson flipped that edge around.
“Their goalie played awesome,” U.S. forward Matt Boldy said. “We had chances, he made saves.”
“We just didn’t have an answer for Ersson,” forward Dylan Larkin added.
Ersson was only on the team because of an injury to Jacob Markström, and frankly, his play with the Philadelphia Flyers this season would not have warranted his inclusion. But on this one night, Ersson shined in front of a national audience, and in front of his head coach with the Flyers, John Tortorella, who must have been standing behind the Team USA bench wondering where this version of Ersson has been.
An audition for the final?
Team USA missing Matthew Tkachuk and Auston Matthews gave Chris Kreider an opportunity to not get in the lineup but start the game. He grew up about a half hour away and played at Boston College.
That would have been a nice moment on its own, but then Kreider made it even more meaningful when he scored the lone U.S. goal on the game’s opening shift.
Chris Kreider puts USA on the board first! 💥 #4Nations pic.twitter.com/r2b7bNkO1o
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 18, 2025
Kreider had a solid game from that point on.
“I thought Kreids played really well,” Sullivan said. “Obviously he scores the goal, but he did more than score goals. He can really skate, he’s got good size, he can kill penalties, he played on the power play. We played him with Jack Eichel and I thought he was a good fit there.”
With so many health-related question marks floating around the U.S. roster, perhaps Kreider did enough to be considered for inclusion in the 4 Nations final against Canada on Thursday. Sullivan did not dismiss the possibility, and felt Kreider would fit in well to the style of game that promises to be.
“He’s a big, strong kid that can play a physical game — I would anticipate that it will be a physical game,” Sullivan said. “Both teams play a similar style, both north-south teams that play with a ton of speed and a ton of physicality. I think Kreids, his game, without a doubt suits that.”
(Top photo of Leo Carlsson and Jack Eichel: Brian Babineau / Getty Images)
