Björklöven kicks off – Karlskoga changes goalkeeper

Table leader Björklöven welcomed table runner-up Karlskoga to Visionite Arena in Umeå on Friday evening. Karlskoga had won nine of the last ten games between the teams.

Then Karlskoga had a nightmare start to the match.

After four minutes and nine seconds, Björklöven took the lead with a delicious hockey goal. Gustav Possler hit an opening pass to Axel Ottosson, who had Mattias Nörstebö with him. Ottosson freed Nörstebö – but instead of shooting, the defender surprised and passed Ottosson back in front of the open goal, who easily scored 1-0.

After that, it only took six seconds until Maxime Fortier had added. Björklöven won a draw in the center zone and after the puck found its way to Fortier, he drove in front of the goal, rounded Lars Volden and luckily scored 2-0 via the Karlskoga goalkeeper.

Karlskoga took a time out – but it would get worse.

Because after six minutes and 36 seconds, Ottosson made it 3-0 with his second goal of the match. Then Karlskoga coach Dennis Hall felt he had to act and changed the goalkeeper. Lars Volden went out, Samuel Jonsson came in.

– The start itself, the first two or three minutes, there was nothing wrong with it. Then everyone saw what happened. They must be having way too much fun out there. We don’t win any battles and let ourselves down a bit, I think, says Karlskoga’s team captain Gustaf Thorell about the first period.

The crush continued

But there was no major change for Karlskoga. Björklöven was still dominant and completely washed over Karlskoga.

The green and yellow won the remaining two periods 3-1 and 3-0, resulting in a final score of 7-1. Fredrik Forsberg, Maxime Fortier, Liam Dower Nilsson and Erik Andersson scored Björklöven’s remaining goals. Stelio Mattheos was the only scorer in Karlskoga.

Björklöven sent a clear message to Karlskoga and the other top aspirants.

– It was a good win in a top match. I think we fall off a bit in others, it’s easy for that to happen when you have a big lead. Then we come out in third and show that we are damn strong this year. It’s just a matter of continuing, it looks good so far, says Axel Ottosson after the match and states:

– It was an important win and that we got a little break from the ice at certain points.