Weekend NHL rankings, 4 Nations Face-Off edition: A Saturday night for the ages

Here are this weeks NHL power rankings: The same as last weeks .

Thats it.

Thats the list.

As you may have noticed, there havent been any NHL games played over the last week, which means theres no reason to shift any of the rankings.

We havent even had any trades, meaning the only team thats seen its outlook change at all is the Vegas Golden Knights, who lost a key defenseman to injury.

They havent been in the top five for a few weeks already, so its status quo.

Advertisement So yeah, if youre here for the NHL rankings, thanks for the click and well see you next week.

But theres also an international tournament playing out, so lets turn an abbreviated version of the rankings into a chance to talk about that instead.

How about that Saturday night? Look, you dont have to like fighting in hockey, and in a lot of cases Im right there with you, but that was awesome .

Connor McDavids highlight-reel goal and Jake Guentzels quick reply seemed to set the stage for an all-timer.

The one downside to Saturdays cinema wasnt so much that the two teams eventually settled down to play hockey, but that the hockey they played defaulted to the usual defense-first slog rather than the two star-studded teams going back and forth.

The last 50 minutes keep this game from being a true classic, but its probably still in the top 10 just based on the start, which is all anyone will remember.

More importantly, it means Team USA is locked into Thursdays final.

Their opponent will be the winner of this afternoons Canada-Finland game, if that win comes in regulation.

If Canada and Finland go to overtime, the winner temporarily stays alive but could see their spot stolen by Sweden if they beat the Americans in regulation tonight.

Given that the U.S.

has nothing to play for, well ...

lets just say Canada and Finland are going to want to take care of business rather than open themselves up to needing help from an American team that might not be eager to offer it .

No bonus five this week, but well borrow the general weekend rankings format to break down whats worked and what hasnt in 4 Nations so far.

4 Nations Face-Off: The good The bright spotlight of an international best-on-best is a great time to change perceptions.

Halfway through this one, these players and concepts are already looking better than they did coming in.

5.

Sidney Crosby You wouldnt have thought a guy whos on pace to finish his career as a consensus top-five player ever would have much room left for tire-pumping, but here we are.

Crosby came into this tournament looking like a guy whos been desperate to get back to international hockey or, given the state of things in Pittsburgh, maybe just any high-stakes hockey at all.

Hes looked great during the games, and fans have eaten up his aw shucks persona that has him picking up pucks before practices.

Now it feels like he may be the key to Canadas fading chances .

And he deserves it, because Sidney Crosby rules.

Do you realize how good you have to be to set up Mitch Marner in the clutch? (We kid.

But while were at it, congrats to Marner on shutting up at least a few of his critics with the biggest goal of his career.) 4.

Ten-minute overtime and the 3-2-1-0 points system Both options are vastly superior to what the NHL uses for its regular season today, and weve already seen it play out.

Marners OT winner doesnt happen without the extended overtime, delivering an electric moment instead of an anti-climactic shootout.

Who wouldnt want that? OK, maybe Nathan MacKinnon, who spent the OT double-shifting while going end to end and taking every shot, then complained that 10 minutes of sudden death was too tiring.

And sure, if coaches never use their bottom six, they risk wearing down their top guys.

But at this point, extended overtime feels inevitable, so keep the cots ready .

Advertisement Moving to a 3-2-1-0 system would be a bigger change, but anything that discourages teams from playing for overtime is a good thing.

Todays Canada-Finland game, and its impact on Swedens chances of staying alive, will hinge on whether or not the winner can finish in regulation.

That adds an extra element of drama, and means the third period of a close game could be a must-watch instead of a holding pattern.

I wish I was as optimistic as some of you who think this is the NHLs way of soft-launching a better system; I think theyre being used here because of the limitations of a short tournament.

But anything that helps normalize these upgrades for eventual adaptation is a good thing.

3.

Sweden vs.

Finland Lets face it, while this is an international tournament, the focus is on the North American teams.

Theyre the main characters, not to mention the home teams.

But if that meant you skipped Saturday afternoons showdown between the tournaments two European entries, you missed a heck of a game.

Both teams are still alive heading into todays action, and you know that both would love to play spoiler and take the title away from the two favorites.

They just might do it.

2.

Connor Hellebuyck We already knew Team USA had the best goalie in the tournament, and hes looked the part so far.

The twist here is that the only bruise on Hellebuycks otherwise stellar resume has been some disappointing postseasons, especially last years.

A so-so showing in the 4 Nations would have led to all sorts of resurrected narratives about whether Hellebuyck is a big-game goalie.

Instead, he seems to be following the same path as guys like Roberto Luongo and Carey Price, legends without Cup rings whose international success dulled any dumb not a real winner criticisms.

1.

The Montreal crowds Absolute A+ performance.

No notes.

Tonight is a reminder of the one advantage that NHL-controlled best-on-best has over the Olympics: the ability to handpick the locations of the games, and put them in rabid hockey markets in front of fans who can push the intensity to another level.

Sean McIndoe ( @downgoesbrown.bsky.social ) February 15, 2025 at 9:41 PM And yes, that includes the booing.

Anthems are a sensitive topic for many, and thats fine.

I gave my thoughts on the issue in this thread a few days ago, but heres the summary: Given the circumstances, the threats being launched Canadas way from its one-time ally, and the palpable (and completely justified) anger all that has created up here, the Montreal fans were extraordinarily reasonable in just booing a song.

Advertisement And yes, American fans will give it back today, and even more so if we get a Canada-USA rematch in the final.

Thats fine, too.

You shove someone, theyre allowed to shove back.

Just dont forget who started the fight.

Not ranked: The Tkachuk brothers, who drove the offense in Game 1, were front and center in Saturdays wild start, and have become the stars of the show so far .

Erik Karlsson, whos at least occasionally looked like his old self for Sweden.

Dylan Larkin, who finally got his signature big-game moment.

And the dark-on-dark uniform color schemes we saw when Canada took on both Sweden and the U.S.

and will get again in tonights game.

4 Nations Face-Off: The not-so-good The flip side of the last section, these are the perceptions that have taken a beating over the last week.

5.

Shea Theodore Weve seen significant injuries to star players in best-on-best tournaments before, including Islanders captain John Tavares in 2014 and Ottawas Dominik Hasek in 2006.

The occasional injury is unavoidable in a tournament where the intensity is this high, but that doesnt make the outcome any less brutal for Theodore and the Golden Knights.

4.

The rules about replacing players Did you enjoy the days-long debate about the minutia of the roster rules for this tournament thats only existed for a few months? Lets summarize.

Theodore got hurt in the opener and was quickly ruled out for the tournament, a terrible break both for the player and team.

Canada, like every team in 4 Nations, came in with just one spare each at forward, at defense and in goal, meaning Theodores injury left them with the minimum of six blueliners.

But the rules said they couldnt bring in a replacement until they dropped below 18 skaters, raising the possibility that they could even end up playing a 13-5 split if another defenseman got hurt.

Thats a bit of a mess, but its apparently the rules everyone agreed on.

But then we got 24 hours of debate on what exactly it meant to have a spare.

Canada couldnt put somebody on the roster, but could they contact someone? Could that player fly into town to be ready if needed? Could they practice with the team? Eventually, the level of micro-details we were reaching started to blend into parody .

Then the whole thing took on even more urgency when Cale Makar missed a practice due to illness.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says the league and NHLPA spoke today and agreed given circumstances that Thomas Harley can come in and join Team Canada in case Cale Makar (illness) cant play Saturday night.

@TSNHockey @TheAthletic Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 14, 2025 Eventually, we found out Thomas Harley was the teams pick for a replacement, and the NHL and NHLPA agreed to change the rules so that he was allowed to be at practice with the team on Saturday, although he wasnt allowed on the ice unless Makar left.

Makar did miss the game, which meant Harley was finally allowed to pull on the maple leaf.

The whole thing was honestly exhausting.

Lord help us if somebody gets hurt today and we have to do it all over again by sending the Air Force to air-lift Jacob Bryson off a beach in the Caribbean somewhere.

Advertisement 3.

Jusse Saros Its been a miserable season for Saros, whos been posting career-worst numbers for a Predators team that ranks as the leagues biggest disappointment.

Not great for a guy whose eight-year extension hasnt even kicked in yet.

But heading into 4 Nations, you could have seen a path to redemption for the struggling netminder, and even a scenario in which he led an underdog Team Finland to an upset or two, rebuilding his reputation as a big-game goalie.

Nope.

Saros was a mildly surprising pick to start for Finland against Team USA ahead of Kevin Lankinen, a far less-seasoned goalie whos having the better NHL season.

Saros started off fine, but was shelled in the third period of a 6-1 loss.

Team Finland coach Antti Pennanen quickly named Lankinen the starter for Saturdays game against Sweden.

Given their overall talent level and (especially) run of injuries on the blue line, Finland was always going to need a miracle goaltending run to contend for the title.

Saros seemed like a decent bet to deliver it while providing the Predators a reminder of the goalie they hope theyre locked into for almost a decade to come.

Instead, a rough season got even rougher.

2.

Elias Pettersson Like Hellebuyck, Pettersson came into this tournament with some recent big-game disappointment and a chance to shed some of that reputation.

Unlike Hellebuyck, he hasnt done so ...

yet.

Swedens tournament might be over before they step on the ice tonight, but it could also be a win-and-in scenario where a few points from Pettersson would flip his script.

But so far, hes point-less through two games with only two shots and has barely made an impact.

1.

Everyone who said this tournament wouldnt work A glorified All-Star Game, you say? Whoops.

Sure, I had my doubts too.

And its still possible this all ends with Finland beating Team USA 8-1 in the final while fans in Boston sit on their hands, and the first and presumably only 4 Nations Face-Off gets mothballed away with the Young Gunz and the Unified Team as a weird artifact of international history.

Were not in the end zone yet, so dont spike the football and all that.

But so far, this tournament has rocked.

The intensity that some were worried about has been there, and then some.

The crowds have been fantastic.

The play has been strong, with plenty of highlight-worthy moments that should linger beyond the tournament itself.

Im not sure what more you could want.

And its all left anyone who didnt expect best-on-best hockey to be great looking pretty silly.

That includes the NHL (and NHLPA), who inexcusably let nearly a decade go by between tournaments.

That was dumb, but whats done is done.

With NHL players heading back to the Olympics next year, and a true return of the World Cup now on the schedule for 2028 , all is right with the hockey world again.

Advertisement Not ranked: Jordan Binnington, who hasnt been awful but has given up a dicey goal in both games and certainly hasnt quieted the concerns about the lack of Canadian goaltending .

Auston Matthews doesnt have a goal yet and has only managed two shots.

Filip Gustavssons numbers are ugly, although illness may be playing a role there.

(Photo of USAs Dylan Larkin and Canadas Nathan MacKinnon: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.