NHL 4 Nations Face-Off 2025: Updated Standings, Predictions After USA vs. Finland

The race to the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off championship game has begun.

Team USA climbed to the top of the tournament standings Thursday night after a third period scoring outburst sealed a regulation victory over Finland.

Canada won its opening game in a Wednesday night thriller at the Bell Centre, but the home country was held to just two standings points as Sweden snagged one in overtime.

Here's a glance at the 4 Nations Face-Off outlook after the first two Round Robin games.

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NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Standings

1. USA (3 points)
2. Canada (2 points)
3. Sweden (1 point)
4. Finland (0 points)

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NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Remaining Schedule

Saturday, Feb. 15

Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS)

USA vs. Canada, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS)

Monday, Feb. 17

Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. ET (MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS)

Sweden vs. USA, 8 p.m. ET (MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS)

Thursday, Feb. 20

Championship Game (ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS)

Schedule information from NHL.com.

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NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Predictions

Canada gets tested in Boston

The crowd at Bell Centre booed Auston Matthews when the Team USA captain came out for the ceremonial puck drop. They chanted Sidney Crosby's name when the Pittsburgh Penguins center hit the ice in overtime.

Canada won't get that same kind of support when the tournament shifts to TD Garden.

Team Canada plays its first game in Boston against Finland on Monday. Although the Canadians will head into the matchup as favorites, the pressure of their first game away from a home-country crowd could make this a closer game than USA's Thursday blowout.

Hellebuyck gets USA a shutout

Team Finland got its first goal fewer than eight minutes into Thursday night's Round Robin matchup.

Next time, Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck would like to hold Team USA's opponent off the board a little longer.

Hellebuyck made 20 saves against Finland on Thursday night, and he leads the NHL with six shutouts this season. After letting in a relatively soft goal early and holding the Finns off the board the rest of the way, he's due for a clean sheet by the time this tournament is over.

Sweden makes title game bid

Team Canada looked on its way to a blowout win through 20 minutes on Wednesday night.

The tide began to turn in the second period, thanks in part to the offensive defensemen playing on each pairing in Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Rasmus Dahlin.

The overtime loss to Canada on Wednesday didn't just earn Sweden a crucial standings point. It also proved this team has the blue line to be a tournament contender.

A regulation win against Finland on Saturday could put this team on track to threaten Canada's hopes of a spot in the championship game.

On the other hand...

Finland gets best shot at win Saturday

Finland entered the tournament as consensus underdogs, and lost multiple defenseman including star Miro Heiskanen to injury ahead of the tournament.

But the Finns opened scoring against Team USA, and stayed within one goal of the Americans until the game broke wide open in the third period.

Mikko Rantanen told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that he thinks Saturday's Sweden/Finland matchup, a matinee in the United States but a primetime weekend game in Europe, will be "big" back in Finland.

Finland's best shot at victory comes alongside their biggest game of the tournament. Rantanen, who was relatively quiet against Team USA, likely knows it. Sweden's stacked defense will present a major challenge, but after competing early against the Americans the Finns will make a bid for their first win of the tournament this weekend.