William Nylander was arguably Sweden’s best forward during Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Finland and with his team on the verge of elimination from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ winger analyzed what’s gone wrong through two games.
“We are playing too much on the outside,” Nylander said post-game. “I think we have to get inside in the middle and attack more. I mean, USA was attacking and playing good at the other games. So, I mean, we have to get to the inside too if we want to compete with them.”
Nylander recorded an assist in the losing effort and was a constant force in the offensive zone, but ultimately it didn’t matter as Mikael Granlund notched the overtime winner for Sweden. Sweden will face the United States on Monday and will be eliminated with a loss, while hoping for the Canada-Finland game to go to overtime. Sweden, Canada and Finland are all stuck on two points, but Canada holds the tiebreaker over Sweden after winning 4-3 in overtime during its head-to-head matchup, while the United States punched its ticket to the final after defeating Canada 3-1 on Saturday.
It’s certainly understandable why Nylander and his teammates aren’t thrilled with their play thus far.
“I mean, it’s not great. We have two OT losses in two games,” Nylander said of his team’s collective mood. “So, I mean, we just gotta regroup here and play the game against USA to go winning. And hopefully the scores go our way.”
Nylander insisted that the loss to Finland doesn’t hold any special weight, rather that the short nature of the tournament compounds each result.
“I mean, you guys build up the rivalry as if it’s something crazy. But I mean, it’s just, we just hate losing. Like, if you want to win this tournament, that’s not going to help you when you lose two losses deep in a three-game tournament.”
If Sweden defeats the United States, it could punch its ticket to the final, but it will need some help from Finland, and it’s certainly shaping up for an intriguing Monday slate if you’re a neutral party. Nylander is one of the NHL’s most dynamic players, particularly off the rush and he may be tasked with shooting Sweden into the final, with a little bit of help from some unlikely allies.
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