4 Nations Face-Off championship game is set — and Florida Panthers are heavily involved
The 4 Nations Face-Off championship game is set.
And it’s a rematch of the best game of the tournament.
The United States vs. Canada.
The game is set for 8 p.m. Thursday at Boston’s TD Garden and will be broadcast on ESPN.
At least one Florida Panthers player is guaranteed to be part of the title-winning team. Star winger Matthew Tkachuk plays for the United States, which also includes Florida president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito as an assistant GM and equipment manager Teddy Richards in the same role. Forwards Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett are playing for Canada. Panthers assistant GM Gregory Campbell is a scout for Team Canada.
The United States secured its spot in the title game before completing round-robin play after regulation wins over Finland and Canada to begin the tournament. The US plays Sweden at 8 p.m. Monday to complete the pre-championship portion of the event.
Canada clinched the second and final spot with a 5-3 win over Finland on Monday afternoon after beating Sweden in overtime to begin the tournament and falling to the United States in regulation on Saturday. Reinhart had three assists in Canada’s win over Finland.
With the United States and Canada in the title game, that means the tournament run comes to an end for Finland and Sweden on Monday.
Four Panthers played for Finland: Captain and center Aleksander Barkov, forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, and defenseman Niko Mikkola. All four registered points in Finland’s lone win of the tournament, a 4-3 overtime win over Sweden on Saturday. Barkov and Lundell scored goals, while Luostarinen and Mikkola had assists.
Defenseman Gustav Forsling played for Sweden.
Assistant coaches Tuomo Ruutu and Myles Fee respectively were part of Teams Finland and Sweden as well, with Ruutu being an assistant coach for Finland and Fee serving as Sweden’s video coach. Patric Hornqvist, who is a scouting and development consultant for the Panthers, was an assistant GM for Sweden.
This story was originally published February 17, 2025 at 5:47 PM.
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