Finland's Laine: 'We're the big brother now' after beating Sweden
Patrik Laine took a parting shot at Sweden after Finland edged its bitter rival 4-3 in overtime at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal on Saturday afternoon.
When ESPN's Emily Kaplan noted to Laine postgame that "sometimes they call you guys the little brothers," the quotable forward implied the tables had turned.
"Well, I feel like we're the big brother now," Laine said. "It feels good. It's always fun to play against them and especially (to) come out on top."
Mikael Granlund buried the winner on an odd-man rush less than two minutes into the extra frame.
Finland captain Aleksander Barkov credited Granlund, who's usually more of a facilitator, with taking matters into his own hands.
"Honestly, I didn't expect Granny to shoot when he had a three-on-one, but I'm so glad he did because he has an amazing shot," Barkov said, per The Athletic's Michael Russo.
Sweden head coach Sam Hallam pulled Filip Gustavsson to start the second period after the goaltender allowed two soft goals on four shots in the first. However, Hallam clarified postgame that Gustavsson was merely dealing with an illness and that his benching wasn't performance-related, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.
"Unfortunate for us, unfortunate for Gus," Hallam said.
Finland netminder Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves, while Sweden's Linus Ullmark turned aside 15 of 17 shots in relief of Gustavsson.
Barkov tied the game 3-3 with 2:55 left in the second period. Earlier in the frame, Sweden rallied with goals from Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson in under five minutes to take a 3-2 lead.
Finland led 2-1 after 20 minutes. Sweden's Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring 8:35 into the game, but Anton Lundell and Mikko Rantanen replied for the Finns.
The victors earned two points for the overtime victory, while the Swedes picked up their second single point of the tourney after dropping their opener 4-3 in overtime to Canada on Wednesday.
As a result, only the United States can clinch a berth in the final Saturday. The Americans will advance to the championship game if they defeat Canada in regulation in the evening's highly anticipated matchup.