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Malmö sneak a point
The last time Malmö and Skellefteå met there was disappointment for the Redhawks delivered by Magnus Wernblom. That story was to repeat itself tonight. Wernblom put in a five star performance to once again see to it that his Skellefteå outfit defeated Malmö.
The Redhawks faithful will be the first to admit that to get a point at all was more than they deserved. Coach "Osten" Bergstrom was not holding back when expressing his disappointment with the evening's events. "We had a good, quick warm up. I was focussed on us having a good performance tonight. But we started the game uncompetitive with a poor tempo and bad decision making, we were nonchalant in defence". "Ostens" displeasure was obvious.
The large crowd were hoping for better after a scoreless first period. However they could not have been happy with what transpired in the second twenty. Goals from Wernblom and Welser made it a painful period to watch for the vocal home support. "We knew we were playing good opponents in a decisive match, we were poor throughout collectively. Corey Hirsch and Edvin Frylen were the only two who gave a good account of themselves. Everyone else underperformed". "Osten" was obviously irritated by events. The Redhawks were glad to see the back of the second period.
In the third period major improvements were required and an early goal would certainly help settle the nerves and motivate a comeback. Malmö have been impressive in the third period all season and would not have given up all hope of making a game of it. Mikael Wahlberg, playing his 300th match in a Redhawks jersey, provided that hope. After just eight seconds of the restart he blasted home from just inside the blue line. This started the best period of the match for Malmö. Skellefteå were on the back foot and conceded many icing calls and penalties. The Redhawks powerplay though was not at its best, winning more face-offs but not being effective with men over. The equaliser did come however with just seven minutes remaining. Edvin Frylen backhanded into the net after some nice build up work with Marcus Matthiasson. 2-2 and the game were there for the taking. Malmö went in search of a winner but that is where the good news ended.
The match went to overtime. Malmö pressed for the extra point but were caught by a Skellefteå counter attack. Wernblom slapped the puck past Hirsch to win the game with the only shot of the period.
"Wernblom has great experience when things are tough on the ice" said Skellefteå coach Tommy Samuelsson. "But it takes more than one player playing well to beat Malmö, and all of them did that tonight" was Samuelssons judgement afterwards.
Bergström and the players have lots to think about regarding the future. In the games that count against the top teams in the league, Skellefteå and Rögle, they have only achieved four of fifteen points. Only against Bofors (third at present) have they felt comfortable. This trend would need to change in the Kvalserien. Improving the discipline record may be the first required. Malmö gave away nine powerplays today, not good enough in a game like this. It interfered with Malmös flow and and the lines were not consistent. "That's Ok if it's your playing a physical game but we were being penalised for holding when we weren't competitive in tight situations, that's undefendable. These penalties really test my patience" judged the Malmö coach afterwards.
"Osten" finished by saying "Skellefteå played well and we didn't, we were happy to get a point" There is a saying in the English language "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Malmö Redhawks have an early opportunity to show this strength with another home game against northern opponents, Björklöven, on Sunday afternoon at 1500. Updates available online(mifredhawks.com) and on Sports Zapp.
Text: John Noonan
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