Kalmar’s supporters had worked day and night for their biggest tifo to date and it seemed to have an immediate effect for the home team, who opened strongly against Björklöven.
Successful acquisition AJ Vanderbeck opened the scoring in the second period when Björklöven completely forgot about him and he had to stand all alone with Melker Thelin in the away box.
But the joy only lasted for a little over 120 seconds, because Joel Mustonen made it 1-1.
Thelin took all the penalties
Kalmar made it 2-1 in the powerplay, but this time Björklöven also came up with an answer through Daniel Viksten, who scored 2-2 in the same style of play.
Carl-Johan Lerby scored a third goal for Kalmar with eight minutes remaining – but then Björklöven equalized a third time through Fredrik Forsberg.
After a goalless – but far from uneventful – overtime, penalties awaited, and there Viksten scored the decisive one for Löven, while Melker Thelin completely shut down three straight penalties and secured a 4-3 victory.
“Nice to get back to everyday life”
– For the most part, we play well throughout the season, we stick together and play as a team, says Thelin in TV4’s broadcast after the victory.
He has played himself up after the criticism he had to endure during the JVM.
– It has been fun to come back to everyday life and help the boys as much as possible, he concludes.
– He plays much more calmly than before the JVM, he was the key today, says TV4’s expert Per Svartvadet about Thelin’s performance.
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