Barkov willing to ‘do whatever it takes’ to win with Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Quebec – Aleksander Barkov is prepared to do whatever is needed to help Finland win the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Even if that means shifting from his usual position at center to take a shift or two on Finland’s banged-up defense.

“I'll do whatever it takes,” Barkov said after Finland’s optional practice at the CN Sports Complex on Monday. “Whatever they tell me to do, I'll do. But I think we have good enough defensemen there.”

Barkov probably won’t be needed on defense -- although he took one shift on defense in an NHL game in each of the past two seasons when the Florida Panthers were short-handed -- but his willingness to do so demonstrates Finland’s attitude with an injury-depleted roster heading into the best-on-best tournament against Canada, Sweden and the United States.

The good news is that coach Antti Pennanen said forward Mikko Rantanen will be ready to play in Finland’s opening game against the U.S. at Bell Centre in Montreal on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) after missing the Carolina Hurricanes’ 7-3 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday because of a lower-body injury.

However, Finland will be without perhaps its best defenseman in Miro Heiskanen, who is sidelined with a knee injury.

With defensemen Jani Hakanpaa (knee) and Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body) also out, Finland added Urho Vaakanainen, Henri Jokiharju and Nikolas Matinpalo as injury replacements. But it will take a group effort to pick up the slack.

“We lost Heiskanen. No secret he was out best 'D,'” forward Sebastian Aho said. “He’s a superstar, obviously, and he’s not here, so somebody else has to step in. I think it’s more as a group we have to fill those holes, not just the one player. We have to step up as a group and maybe help in some areas that we need help and, obviously, work as unit.”

Drawing from a smaller talent pool with a population of roughly 5.5 million, Finland is used to having the odds against it when taking on world hockey powers such as Canada, Sweden and the U.S. That hasn’t stopped Finland from having success in the past in best-on-best competitions, though.

In the five Winter Olympics to include NHL players (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), Finland won a medal four times (three bronze, one silver), which was more than any other country. In the three World Cups, Finland finished third in 1996 and second in 2004 before failing to advance past the preliminary round in 2016.

So, Canada, Sweden and the U.S. would be wise not to underestimate Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“I don’t think they’re going to be underestimating us,” forward Artturi Lehkonen said. “Everybody knows we lost a few players, but we still have a lot of great players on this team. We have some of the top players in the world so, you can’t really underestimate any team in this tournament.”

Pennanen said Finland has been able to overcome whatever shortcomings it has faced in the past through teamwork.

“I think it’s part of the Finnish hockey: be a good team,” Pennanen said. “The players have had some history together, so that’s a thing also. We try to be a hard-to-play-against team and (play) good defense and (have) good puck management.”

Barkov and Aho noted that they’ve previously played with almost every player on Finland’s roster, either on the national team or in the NHL. Aho and Patrik Laine worked magic as linemates to help Finland win the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship. Aho, Barkov and Laine played on a line together at the 2016 World Cup.

“Smallest country, that’s for sure, out of all those four (in the tournament),” Barkov said. “We’re similar age, so we grew up in the same environment and on national teams and playing against each other. I came here and I knew every single person. I met him before and talked to him before. So, obviously, it helps.”

And because the players grew up together playing the same system when on Finland’s national team, they already know how they’re going to play when they get to tournaments like this one.

“We try to be a very tight-knit group, hard-working guys and commit to the game plan,” Aho said. “Maybe that’s our edge against some of the other teams. I don’t know. Usually, we have a good goalie and, obviously, we’re good in that department.

“So, hopefully we’ll put (on) a good show there.”

Though the U.S. and Canada might be the favorites, Finland has come to the 4 Nations Face-Off to win.

“We’re very confident,” forward Anton Lundell said. “I know we’re probably not ranked No. 1 in the [media], but it hasn’t been an issue for us before. Sometimes it’s fun to try to show how good you are.”