Sweden beats U.S. 2-1 in final 4 Nations round-robin game, but fails to advance

BOSTON (AP) — Sweden rallied after falling behind just 35 seconds into the game, and Samuel Ersson made 31 saves on Monday night to beat the United States 2-1 in the 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin finale, handing the title game-bound Americans their first loss of the tournament.

The nightcap meant nothing to either the Americans or Swedes: The U.S. had already clinched a spot in Thursday’s championship game against Canada, which beat Finland 5-3 earlier Monday, and Sweden needed Canada to falter to have a chance of making the final.

With some fans wearing powdered wigs and colonial-era tricorn hats, the Boston crowd bellowed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game — a response to the Canadians who booed the U.S. national anthem before the early matchups in Montreal.

Chants of “U-S-A!” rang out through the TD Garden in the final minutes, with goalie Jake Oettinger pulled for an extra skater, but the Americans couldn’t beat Ersson to force overtime.

Chris Kreider gave the Americans the lead in the opening minute, but Gustav Nyquist tied it a dozen minutes later and Jesper Bratt gave Sweden the lead with less than a minute remaining in the first period. The next two periods remained scoreless despite the Americans having an overall 32-23 edge in shots on goal.

The Americans reached the final by winning its first two round-robin games, against Canada and Finland. The North American rivals will have a chance to reprise the fight-filled round-robin matchup that was the most-watched non-Stanley Cup final hockey game since 2019.

The Americans started the game a player down with Auston Matthews out, and then Brady Tkachuk left in the second period after colliding with Ersson in the crease. More disappointing for the Boston fans was Bruins’ defenceman Charlie McAvoy being scratched from the lineup.

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