MONTREAL — The narrative was already getting old for Team Finland.

Even if they repeatedly said they didn’t care about being considered an underdog in the 4 Nations Face-Off, there was a sense from the Finnish players that the more they were asked about it, the more they wanted to prove people wrong, to change that narrative.

Through 40 minutes Thursday, Finland was doing that. Or just short of 40 minutes. Exactly 2.2 seconds short of 40 minutes.

That is how much time was left in the second period, one that saw Finland generate numerous chances to score but come up empty while the game was still tied 1-1, when Olli Määttä was called for hooking Auston Matthews off a faceoff in the Finland zone. One intermission later and 15 seconds into the third period, Matthew Tkachuk took an innocuous shot from the top of the faceoff circle, the shot struck the stick of Finland defenseman Niko Mikkola and floated past Juuse Saros into the net, and it was 3-1 for the United States.

A proud group that had put itself in a position to pull off a tremendous upset and change that narrative saw it all undone in less than 20 seconds of game time.

A terribly timed penalty, a bad bounce, and the rout was on.

A 6-1 loss to the United States may look like it only confirmed that narrative, but the reality is far different.

TWO GOALS IN 11 SECONDS 🚨🚨

The USA with a hot start to the third period! #4Nations

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🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/UR09IID7Vj

— NHL (@NHL) February 14, 2025

“We knew that even before coming in here, that we can hold our own here,” Finland forward Mikael Granlund said. “And that was the case. We saw the first two periods, it was a good hockey game. Either one could have been up 2 or 3-1.

“It was a good challenge, and we know we have a good team; the 6-1 (score) up there doesn’t really show what the game really was.”

Playing two strong periods and falling apart in the third doesn’t get Finland any points in the standings, and being the only team in the tournament without a point will make it extremely difficult to reach the championship game in Boston next week.

But those two strong periods do provide a path forward for Finland to prove something in its two remaining games against archrival Sweden on Saturday and against Canada in Boston on Monday.

“You either win,” Finland captain Aleksander Barkov said, “or you learn.”

The blue line held up

The biggest question facing Finland was how it would survive the loss of Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jani Hakanpää on defense. Their replacements did just fine, as odd as that sounds after a game that ended 6-1.

Finland played all three of those injury replacements ahead of Juuso Välimäki. Henri Jokiharju scored the lone Finland goal to give them an early 1-0 lead and played just over 19 minutes of solid, low-event hockey on a pairing with Määttä. The third pair of Urho Vaakanainen and Nikolas Matinpalo also did well under the circumstances.

When you consider that as recently as Saturday, Matinpalo was wondering if he would be sent to the AHL by the Ottawa Senators to get some games in with Belleville during the tournament, he did more than fine on this stage. It was unfortunate for him that Matt Boldy’s go-ahead goal late in the second period came when Matinpalo was unable to tie up his stick in the slot, because he had played well up to that point.

And in the absence of Heiskanen and Ristolainen, the top pair of Esa Lindell and Mikkola logged a ton of minutes and were effective defensively while getting a steady diet of the most dangerous American players.

The seemingly overmatched Finnish defense was not the reason they lost this game.

“I think they did well,” Barkov said, “they moved the puck really well.”

Shoot your shot

Finland had a number of excellent scoring chances in the second period with the game tied 1-1 that they squandered or simply passed up. Roope Hintz took a pass in the slot from Sebastian Aho midway through the second and instead of shooting, deferred to Mikko Rantanen on the left flank. The pass failed to connect, and the Finns came away without a shot. Erik Haula had a breakaway from the blue line a minute later and shot wide. Aho and Hintz had a two-on-one break a few minutes later and Aho’s saucer pass to Hintz never landed.

Three Grade-A scoring chances. Zero shots on goal.

Finland simply could not afford to do that when scoring chances were always going to be scarce for them.

“When you don’t score,” Finland forward Joel Armia said simply, “the other team’s going to score.”

The fact Finland had multiple opportunities to take the lead in that second period and plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the U.S. players is something they can learn from against Sweden. When in doubt, shoot, as evidenced by the Matthew Tkachuk goal that broke things open early in the third.

The line of Aho, Hintz and Patrik Laine combined for one shot on goal and only seven attempts. That’s not going to cut it.

A change in goal could be in order

Saros was given a lot of benefit of the doubt in getting this start. He is the standard bearer of Finnish goaltending and had been one of the best goaltenders in the world for a few years entering this season.

But the way Saros has performed this season complicated what should have been a simple decision for Finland on who to start in goal. The reality is Finland needed Saros to be the best goaltender in the tournament for them to have a chance to win it, and that was not an unreasonable ask based on his history. But the current version of Saros doesn’t seem capable of doing that.

Backing up Saros on Thursday was his former backup in Nashville, Kevin Lankinen, who has been very good for the Vancouver Canucks this season and has the best numbers of Finland’s three goaltenders by a good margin.

Saros had earned that benefit of the doubt, and Finland had to roll the dice that he would magically find his former self, because his former self gave them the best chance to succeed in this tournament. But it was his current self we saw Thursday. Brady Tkachuk banking the first U.S. goal in off Saros from below the goal line was one he needed to stop, and the Jake Guentzel shot five-hole just 11 seconds after Matthew Tkachuk made it 3-1 was a killer, which is what makes his former backup a viable option, one coach Antti Pennanen acknowledged after the game was a real possibility.

“We go way back, we’ve known each other from probably 15 years old, we’ve been doing junior national teams and camps together,” Lankinen said of Saros after practice Wednesday. “It’s been fun to see his development and you can always see that he’s a special goalie with special talent and athleticism.

“So it’s been fun to watch him, obviously the last couple of years pretty closely in Nashville, to see him develop, but he’s helped my game evolve as well.”

It is probably time for the protege to take over from the mentor.

The 4 Nations tournament format made it so that every game felt like a Game 7. Numerous players have said so.

But for Finland, there are still two games to prove a point they have been dying to make, a point they were in the process of proving for nearly 40 minutes Thursday before it all fell apart. While reaching the tournament final may be a steep uphill battle, proving that point is still very much on the table.

“If you lose Game 7, you’re out. We’re not out,” Barkov said. “We play against Sweden on Saturday, and the preparation starts now for that game. We’re excited, it’s our rivalry and we’ll be trying to give our best.”

(Photo: Andre Ringuette / 4NFO / World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images)