Who&#8217;s ready for some international hockey?
Rather than having an All-Star Game and Skills Competition like usual, the NHL is having players from Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States square off in a quick mid-season tournament. Though the 4 Nations Face-Off is missing stars such as Leon Draisaitl, Alex Ovechkin, and David Pastrnak, this is the closest thing to a true best-on-best international hockey tournament that we&#8217;ve seen in a decade.
The first game will be played on Wednesday evening between Canada and Sweden. Below is information on the game, line combinations and starting goaltenders for both teams, along with the tournament&#8217;s format, rules, and schedule.

<h2>Game Information</h2>
<ul>
<li>Start Time: 6:00 PM MT</li>
<li>Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada</li>
<li>Watch: Sportsnet (Canada), TNT/TruTV/Max (USA)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Line Combinations</h2>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/team-canada/line-combinations">Canada</a></h3>
The big news for Canada on Wednesday is that Sidney Crosby will be available to play. The team&#8217;s captain has been dealing with an upper-body injury suffered last week when the Pittsburgh Penguins were playing the New Jersey Devils but he&#8217;ll suit up for the tournament opener.
The 37-year-old will be playing on a line with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights. Canada&#8217;s top forward line will feature Connor McDavid in the middle with Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his wings.
Starting in net for Canada will be Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. The 2019 Stanley Cup Champion posted an .885 save percentage over eight games for Canada at last year&#8217;s World Hockey Championship and he has a .896 save percentage in 39 games this season with the Blues.
Sam Reinhart &#8211; Connor McDavid &#8211; Mitch Marner 
Nathan MacKinnon &#8211; Sidney Crosby &#8211; Mark Stone
Brad Marchand &#8211; Brayden Point &#8211; Seth Jarvis 
Brandon Hagel &#8211; Anthony Cirelli &#8211; Travis Konecny 
Devon Toews &#8211; Cale Makar 
Josh Morrissey &#8211; Colton Parayko 
Shea Theodore &#8211; Drew Doughty 
Jordan Binnington
<h3><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/team-sweden/line-combinations">Sweden</a></h3>
Two members of the Edmonton Oilers are representing Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Mattias Ekholm is skating on the team&#8217;s second defensive pairing alongside Erik Karlsson of the Penguins while Viktor Arvidsson is playing on the fourth forward line with Elias Lindholm of the Boston Bruins and Gustav Nyquist of the Nashville Predators.
Starting in net for Sweden against Canada will be Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson. The 26-year-old has plenty of experience playing for his country at the international level. Gustavsson led Sweden to bronze at the 2024 World Hockey Championship and he has a silver medal from playing in the World Juniors. Through 37 games for the Wild this season, Gustavsson has a .915 save percentage.
Filip Forsberg &#8211; Elias Pettersson &#8211; Adrian Kempe 
Rickard Rakell &#8211; Mika Zibanejad &#8211; William Nylander
Jesper Bratt &#8211; Joel Eriksson Ek &#8211; Lucas Raymond
Viktor Arvidsson &#8211; Elias Lindholm &#8211; Gustav Nyquist 
Victor Hedman &#8211; Jonas Brodin 
Mattias Ekholm &#8211; Erik Karlsson
Gustav Forsling &#8211; Rasmus Dahlin 
Filip Gustavsson 
<hr />
<h2>Tournament Format and Rules</h2>
This is an unusually short international tournament with just four teams and seven games in total. Unlike the Olympics or World Championship, which features a group stage followed by a three-round playoff format, this one is simple: Record as many points as possible in three games. The two teams with the most points after Monday’s round-robin finale will advance to Thursday’s championship game and there will not be a bronze medal bout.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will follow a more traditional international point structure rather than the NHL&#8217;s format. A regulation win will award a team three points, an overtime/shootout victory will pay two, and an overtime loss will result in one. That means a perfect 3-0-0-0 record will give a team nine points.
The NHL features five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime with a shootout if needed. At the 4 Nations Face-Off, extra time will be extended to 10 minutes, and then a shootout if needed. If overtime is required during the championship game, it will follow NHL playoff rules: 20 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey until someone scores.
<h2>Full Tournament Schedule</h2>
<ul>
<li class="text-lg">Wednesday, Feb. 12:  Canada vs. Sweden in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Thursday, Feb. 13: USA vs. Finland in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Saturday, Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden in Montreal, 11:00 AM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Saturday, Feb. 15: USA vs. Canada in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Monday, Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland in Boston, 11:00 AM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Monday, Feb. 17:  Sweden vs. USA in Boston, 6:00 PM MT</li>
<li class="text-lg">Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game in Boston, 6:00 PM MT</li>
</ul>

Who's ready for some international hockey?

Rather than having an All-Star Game and Skills Competition like usual, the NHL is having players from Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States square off in a quick mid-season tournament. Though the 4 Nations Face-Off is missing stars such as Leon Draisaitl, Alex Ovechkin, and David Pastrnak, this is the closest thing to a true best-on-best international hockey tournament that we've seen in a decade.

The first game will be played on Wednesday evening between Canada and Sweden. Below is information on the game, line combinations and starting goaltenders for both teams, along with the tournament's format, rules, and schedule.


<h2>Game Information</h2>
<ul>
 	<li>Start Time: 6:00 PM MT</li>
 	<li>Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada</li>
 	<li>Watch: Sportsnet (Canada), TNT/TruTV/Max (USA)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Line Combinations</h2>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/team-canada/line-combinations">Canada</a></h3>
The big news for Canada on Wednesday is that Sidney Crosby will be available to play. The team's captain has been dealing with an upper-body injury suffered last week when the Pittsburgh Penguins were playing the New Jersey Devils but he'll suit up for the tournament opener.

The 37-year-old will be playing on a line with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights. Canada's top forward line will feature Connor McDavid in the middle with Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his wings.

Starting in net for Canada will be Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. The 2019 Stanley Cup Champion posted an .885 save percentage over eight games for Canada at last year's World Hockey Championship and he has a .896 save percentage in 39 games this season with the Blues.

Sam Reinhart - Connor McDavid - Mitch Marner 

Nathan MacKinnon - Sidney Crosby - Mark Stone

Brad Marchand - Brayden Point - Seth Jarvis 

Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Travis Konecny 

Devon Toews - Cale Makar 

Josh Morrissey - Colton Parayko 

Shea Theodore - Drew Doughty 

Jordan Binnington
<h3><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/team-sweden/line-combinations">Sweden</a></h3>
Two members of the Edmonton Oilers are representing Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Mattias Ekholm is skating on the team's second defensive pairing alongside Erik Karlsson of the Penguins while Viktor Arvidsson is playing on the fourth forward line with Elias Lindholm of the Boston Bruins and Gustav Nyquist of the Nashville Predators.

Starting in net for Sweden against Canada will be Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson. The 26-year-old has plenty of experience playing for his country at the international level. Gustavsson led Sweden to bronze at the 2024 World Hockey Championship and he has a silver medal from playing in the World Juniors. Through 37 games for the Wild this season, Gustavsson has a .915 save percentage.

Filip Forsberg - Elias Pettersson - Adrian Kempe 

Rickard Rakell - Mika Zibanejad - William Nylander

Jesper Bratt - Joel Eriksson Ek - Lucas Raymond

Viktor Arvidsson - Elias Lindholm - Gustav Nyquist 

Victor Hedman - Jonas Brodin 

Mattias Ekholm - Erik Karlsson

Gustav Forsling - Rasmus Dahlin 

Filip Gustavsson 

<hr />

<h2>Tournament Format and Rules</h2>
This is an unusually short international tournament with just four teams and seven games in total. Unlike the Olympics or World Championship, which features a group stage followed by a three-round playoff format, this one is simple: Record as many points as possible in three games. The two teams with the most points after Monday’s round-robin finale will advance to Thursday’s championship game and there will not be a bronze medal bout.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will follow a more traditional international point structure rather than the NHL's format. A regulation win will award a team three points, an overtime/shootout victory will pay two, and an overtime loss will result in one. That means a perfect 3-0-0-0 record will give a team nine points.

The NHL features five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime with a shootout if needed. At the 4 Nations Face-Off, extra time will be extended to 10 minutes, and then a shootout if needed. If overtime is required during the championship game, it will follow NHL playoff rules: 20 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey until someone scores.
<h2>Full Tournament Schedule</h2>
<ul>
 	<li class="text-lg">Wednesday, Feb. 12:  Canada vs. Sweden in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Thursday, Feb. 13: USA vs. Finland in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Saturday, Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden in Montreal, 11:00 AM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Saturday, Feb. 15: USA vs. Canada in Montreal, 6:00 PM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Monday, Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland in Boston, 11:00 AM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Monday, Feb. 17:  Sweden vs. USA in Boston, 6:00 PM MT</li>
 	<li class="text-lg">Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game in Boston, 6:00 PM MT</li>
</ul>

Canada vs. Sweden: Line combinations, starting goaltenders, and more

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