It only took a couple of games at the 4 Nations Face-Off before players started falling ill. Despite an exciting start to the tournament, Canada was among the first teams to fall victim to the mystery flu with Travis Konecny and Cale Maker missing practice ahead of their clash with Team USA on Saturday. However, the latest update indicates that Canada’s woes may have only been the tip of the iceberg.

NHL Insider David Pagnotta posted about the illness making rounds in all four camps. “Sounds like something may be going around and some players on all countries are taking precautions – they don’t want to risk missing any action,” wrote the Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Period. However, Cam Robinson revealed those precautions weren’t enough, especially for Sweden.

The Content Director at Elite Prospects hinted that the entire Swedish roster may have felt the effects of mystery illness at the 4 Nations Face-Off. “Sources indicate that while the flu has spread around the 4 Nations, Team Sweden wasn’t just dealing with a little bug running through their team. Guys were ravaged. Weak. Dehydrated,” Robinson revealed on X.

“Surely impacted their play to a great level,” added Robinson. Although Cam Robinson didn’t name the sources, his post lined up with what David Pagnotta wrote ahead of Canada’s February 15 clash with the USA. The fans also joined the dots after Robinson’s post. “William Nylander looked like he hadn’t slept in a week…” commented a hockey enthusiast.

However, despite the illness ravaging Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off, they gave Team Canada a run for their money. Sweden lost against Canada and Finland in overtime, and defeated Team USA, dining up with 5 points on the table. If it wasn’t for Canada’s win against Finland, the Maple Leaf Brigade might have been in trouble. And what was even more impressive was the Swedes powered through illness despite knowing it wouldn’t really matter.

Sweden ends 4 Nations Face-Off campaign on a high note

The pride of representing their nation at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off drove Team Sweden to win the match against the USA. “It’s not easy to prepare for a game like this when you know you have nothing really to play for on the outside,” said Swedish defenseman Erik Karlsson.

“Everyone in here is extremely proud to be a part of this team, to play for the national team… Everyone in here did a [heck] of a job staying with it and doing everything we needed to do to try to win this game, and luckily after 60 minutes, we did,” added Karlsson. While Gustav Nyquist and Jesper Bratt found the net after the U.S. had taken the lead, their goals wouldn’t have mattered had it not been for Samuel Ersson‘s exceptional goaltending.

Ersson made a whopping 32 saves to keep Sweden in the lead at TD Garden. The Swedish goaltender was by far the busier of the pair of goalies on the ice with Team USA’s Jake Oettinger made just 21 saves during his team’s 2-1 loss against Sweden. However, if Sweden had been ravaged by illness, Team USA led the pack in injuries with two more players getting injured against Sweden.

In fact, one of the five players on Team USA’s injury list is officially out of the final. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy got hospitalized during the USA vs. Sweden match, and won’t be playing in the final, as per NHL.com. With Quinn Hughes still in Vancouver awaiting the go-ahead, all eyes are on the USA vs. Canada rematch in the 4 Nations Face-Off final. However, only time will tell if an injury-riddled U.S. team can pull off a performance similar to Sweden.