The Finland Panthers Are Ready for Battle at 4 Nations Face-Off

MONTREAL — The Finland Panthers are ready to represent their country on the world stage tonight at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Finland captain Sasha Barkov will lead the way for his country with three of his Florida teammates: Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, and Niko Mikkola. 

Finland opens tournament play tonight against a familiar foe, a United States team featuring one Matthew Tkachuk.  

“It’s great [to have them here], I’m really happy for those guys,” Barkov said of his Finnish Panthers teammates.

“It’s so nice that there are so many players from the Florida Panthers here representing the team. It’s very well deserved, [and] a great experience to share with them.”

Florida has eight players in the four-country tournament — most of any NHL team.

The four Finnish players from the Panthers are the most on a single team here.

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“It’s pretty cool to be able to share this with the Panthers guys,” Lundell said. “It has been awesome so far. We have a bond, we are like family — we spend more time with each other than with our families. That’s very special.”

There has not been a lot of time to establish chemistry given the duration of this event, but the Finns don’t seem to be worried about a lack of team bonds. 

Fifteen of Finland’s 23 skaters have at least one of their NHL teammates joining them, and most have played together at various levels of their hockey career — whether in the NHL, junior, or other international tournaments. 

• Barkov ‘Honored’ to be Finland’s Sportsman of the Year

“Finland is a pretty small country,” Lundell said. “At the end of the day, everybody kind of knows everybody. To be able to get everybody together, it’s almost like seeing your good friends after a long time. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”

Finnish head coach Antti Pennanen is not trying to break the mold for when his team plays its first game at the Bell Centre (8 p.m.; ESPN/ESPN+). 

Lundell and Luostarinen established their footing in the NHL with the Panthers around the same time and developed their respective games while spending most of the time on the same line.

They’ll do the same for the national team. 

“It’s a short tournament so I think that helps a lot,” Lundell said of playing with Luostarinen. 

• Florida Panthers Territory Moves Hard into Finland

With the Barkov, Lundell, Sebastian Aho, and Roope Hintz up the middle, the Finns can hang with any team — forward-wise — in the tournament.

The Finnish blueline, however, is where the talent level makes a 180. 

Finland was handicapped before the tournament began, losing three defenseman to injury.

This opened the door for Mikkola, who looks like he will be asked to eat a ton of minutes on the top pair with Esa Lindell. 

“He’s been unreal for us [in Florida],” Sweden and Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling said of Mikkola.

“He’s going to end up playing a lot of minutes for them. He’s ready. He does that for us: shutting people down is kind ofhis job in [Florida]. It’s going to come naturally for him.”

When Finland opens the tournament against Team USA, Barkov and the other Finnish Panthers will temporarily put their friendship with Tkachuk on hold.

“I don’t think it’s difficult,” Barkov responded when asked if he can flip the switch and be rivals with Tkachuk.

“Obviously, I know him really well now. But when the puck drops, it’s Finland against USA.”

4 NATIONS FACE-OFF SCHEDULE

At Bell Center, Montreal

• Wednesday: Canada 4, Sweden 3 (OT)
• Tonight: United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN+)
• Saturday: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+); United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+)

At TD Garden, Boston

• Monday: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. (TNT/truTV, Max); Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. (TNT/truTV, Max)
• Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN+)

ON DECK: GAME No. 58

SEATTLE KRAKEN at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Seattle: Panthers 2, Kraken 1 SO (Dec. 11). At Florida: Feb. 22.
• Last Season: Tied 1-1
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Seattle leads 4-3-0
• Up Next for the Panthers: Feb. 25 at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m.