Nylander Savagely Sends Finland to Brink With Nasty Moves

Alex Nylander had an assortment of treats to offer in Sweden’s 3-1 win over the defending champions from Finland on Thursday. After the Finns failed to double their lead on a lengthy 5-on-3, Nylander served up a beautiful dish for Lias Andersson to tie it up.

In the third, young Alex and his flow were at it again, as the 2016 Buffalo Sabres first rounder put on the brakes at the blue line before finishing off a delicious give and go. Of course, it was Nylander who delivered Finland’s desert into the open cage with a minute left – capping off a nightmarish calendar year for the Finish under-20 hockey program.

At this time last year, the Finns were riding high after beating the Russians in overtime to capture the fourth World Junior Hockey Championship gold in their country’s history. A few months later, Jesse Puljujarvi, Sebastian Aho and Patrik Laine were selected early in the NHL draft – the latter two are having outstanding rookie seasons with Carolina and Winnipeg, respectively.

Now, less than 365 days later, Finland may be playing a relegation game in hopes of not joining nations like Croatia, Ukraine, Romania and Great Britain in next year’s B tournament. Team Sweden, meanwhile, is absolutely rolling. They’ve won an astounding 39 straight round robin games stretching back to 2006, while sitting at 3-0-0-0 and atop group A in this years tournament.