The National Hockey League on Friday announced that Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg and goaltender Juuse Saros will represent their native countries of Sweden and Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, set to be played at Montreal’s Bell Centre and Boston’s TD Garden this February.
Among the first six players named to each of the four teams - Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States - Forsberg and Saros will compete against each other and other NHL stars during the round-robin format tournament.
The roster inclusions follow tremendous seasons from both Forsberg and Saros.
Playing in all 82 games of the 2023-24 campaign, Forsberg reached new heights of offensive production, establishing career highs in points (94), goals (48), assists (46), power-play points (32), game-winning goals (11), overtime goals (3) and shots (347). His nine-game point streak (8g-9a) from March 10-30 eclipsed a personal high established in 2021-22.
Forsberg’s 12th season of play in the NHL saw the forward knock down a number of franchise records as well. His 48 goals surpassed the team record previously held by Matt Duchene (43 in 2021-22), while his seven-game goal streak (8g) from March 13-28 topped his own franchise record established in Nov. 2014. Forsberg’s 29 multi-point and 10 multi-goal games additionally bested the franchise records established by Roman Josi (26) and Duchene (9) in 2021-22.
Starting in 64 contests during the 2023-24 campaign, Saros concluded his third season as the Predators starter with a 35-24-5 record, the second-most wins of his career. Saros frustrated Nashville’s opponents down the stretch, winning nine of his 14 starts and posting a steady .904 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average from March 7 to April 15.
Icing a 29-save performance against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 21, 2023, Saros recorded the 162nd win of his career and hopped former Predators netminder Tomas Vokoun to become the second winningest goaltender in franchise history, behind Pekka Rinne (369).
His 14-game point streak (12-0-2) from Feb. 17 to March 26 was instrumental in Nashville’s historic 18-game point streak (16-0-2) and bested the franchise record established by Pekka Rinne (12; 11-0-1) in 2011-12.
The February tournament will see the Predators duo pitted against each other for the first time since the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship gold-medal game, a contest that Saros ultimately claimed for Finland with an impressive 35-save performance.
The rematch is set for Feb. 15 at Bell Centre, three days after the tournament opens. Smashville can catch all the action on ESPN, ESPN+, TNT and ABC.
Additional information, including ticket on-sale details and full team rosters, will be announced at a later date. Predators fans can sign up to receive information and updates here.
About the 4 Nations Face-Off
The 4 Nations Face-Off will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12 to 20, along with two designated training/practice days (Feb. 10 and Feb. 11). All games in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional Round Robin format, under the following points system: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final.
View the complete game schedule below:
