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Malmö v Bofors
A big crowd turned out to see this top of the table clash between two of the form teams in the Allsvenskan. Bofors running third in the league were hoping to turn over the second placed team Malmö Redhawks.
First Period
Malmö started the game having to defend two powerplays, and defended them they did without any major incident to keep Corey Hirsch's goal intact. Almost right after Johan Norgren completed his time in the penalty box Malmö countered on the right wing through Jan Öberg. With him was defenceman Johan Björk who split the defence with a perfect pass through middle ice. Öberg found himself through on goal, didn't flinch and scored with a shot to the bottom left corner of the net. One nil to Malmö.
Malmö conceded a lot of penalties in this first period, no less than five but our reporter claims that many of them were questionable. Amongst them was a 5 on 3 where Bofors had little to show for their efforts with only one shot on goal.
Redhawks did not create much for Bofors keeper Mikael Andersson to deal with. The shotcount of 8-13 in Malmös favour did not reflect what was happening on the ice. "They must have counted every time we touched the puck in their zone" quipped a Malmö fan watching the game at Nobelhallen in karlskroga.
Mikeal Wahlberg's line has been Malmös best in recent times and so they were again tonight. However Johan Björk has been Malmös best player after one period, in addition to his assist with Öbergs goal his defensive work has been of a very high standard.
Second Period
The start of the second was a tough affair with Bofors high sticking a lot, disappointingly though their players went down very easily in the tackle. Malmö fans at the game were disappointed to see former Malmö player Jens Olsson do the same as his team-mates. Bofors equalised when playing 5 against 3 after netminder Corey Hirsch let the ball between his legs and Johan Sjödell-Wiklander, who score both of Bofors goals in Malmö, just had to put club to puck to guide it over the line.
Malmö came back and were soon in the lead again. Chaos in the box, Riihijarvi passed the puck out to the left face off circle where Alexander Semjonov shot into what was effectively an empty net. That was a powerplay goal. Just before the break Kim Staal had a great chance only to see the netminder make a great save from his low shot.
Niklas Jadeland had a go at Per Sveder away from play. Jadeland seemed agitated at the constant ugly hits from Sveder. Jadeland got 2+2 for initiating the fight. Sveder got 2.
Alexander Semjonov was Malmö's best player in the second period which was played at a very high tempo.
Third period
The match continued to be whiney and crankey, the penalties continued to rise for both teams. The Redhawks fans at the rink were dismayed at the diving from the home team . After just four minutes of the third Juha Riihijarvi was penalised for slashing and Bofors Fredrik Ericson likewise for unsportmanlike conduct (faking an injury). The referee was close by when Ericsson, who had been hit in the stomach, went down holding his head.
Martin Strandfeldt was the sinner for Bofors when sent off and he had no longer than left the ice when Malmö made it 1-3. Björk again was the goalscorer, one account was "confusion in the Bofors zone again, Björk got it and a rock hard shot went into the net". This seemed to make the match safe for Malmö and Bofors created nothing more.
Summary
Malmö Redhawks won their third match in a row against Bofors, the second away from home. Malmö were always in control despite the very physical approach from the host team.
Johan Björk was voted man of the match and surely no one can disagree. Two goals and an otherwise excellent game.
Thanks to the fantastic Johan, Robin and Linda for the updates who now begin a long journey home.
Three points to malmö while at the same time Skellefteå were losing to Björklöven and Rögle drawing with Vaxjö. It was a great evening for the Redhawks.
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