At the time of the break, Mika Zibanejad had just started to turn around his season. His strong play continued with Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off — in which he centered their top line and

It also whetted his appetite for more best-on-best hockey. Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jani Hakanpää all missed the 4 Nations to injury, so competition for the Finnish Olympic roster will be more fierce. Vaakanainen acquitted himself well enough to at least be on the bubble, though.

Mika Zibanejad felt the power of love on Saturday afternoon. Before Sweden’s 4-3 overtime loss to Finland in their 4 Nations Face-off battle, the Rangers forward shared a tender moment with his wife, Irma Helin, and daughter, Ella, kissing the young one ...

Mika Zibanejad’s season with the Rangers has not been up to par. But this is not the Rangers. “You’re playing for your country,” Zibanejad said Wednesday before Team Sweden lost 4-3 in overtime to Canada to open the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Scores in return to action

Playing well  for Sweden in the 4 Nations tournament has given the forward a boost after elevating his play at the start of 2025

Zibanejad (illness) is expected to play in Saturday's matchup versus Buffalo, according to Andrew Crane of the New York Post.

The Four Nations Face-Off may have come at the perfect time for Swedish star Mika Zibanejad amid a challenging 2024-25 NHL season with the New York Rangers.

Mika Zibanejad will play for Sweden when it begins its 4-Nations Face-Off campaign against hosts Canada at Bell Center in Montreal on Wednesday.

Through Team Sweden’s first two games of the 4 Nations Face-Off, Mika Zibanejad has been given a hefty workload. He’s recorded over 20 minutes of ice time in each of his two appearances, serving as the first-line center on a line alongside William Nylander and Rickard Rakell.

In a back-and-forth contest, at least in terms of lead changes the first two periods, the latest chapter between these two border rivals ended in a 4-3 win for Finland, with 2011 world champion Mikael Granlund scoring 1:49 into overtime when he fired a shot off a two-on-one past Linus Ullmark.