Djurgården traveled on Thursday to Småland’s Vimmerby for a meeting with the hockey Allsvenskan newcomer. The Stockholmers came to the match with a 5-0 defeat against Östersund in the bag and were chasing their third straight three-pointer.
You also got a dream start for that.
Outnumbered in the first period, Patrik Thoresen found Tyler Kelleher with a smart pass through the slot to the left drawing circle. The American fired a hard finish to make it 1-0 – Djurgården’s sixth power play goal of the season.
Before the end of the first period, the Småland team equalized. Fredric Weigl failed to transport the puck out of his own zone and dropped it to a Vimmerby player who shot. Viktor Andrén in Djurgårdsmålet saved the first shot but left the rebound – which Ludvig Witsén was in front of and poked in 1-1.
How there was no goal in the second period is something of a mystery. Djurgården had three shots on target through Dick Axelsson, Johnny Tychonik and Linus Klasen – at the same time that Adam Pettersson in Vimmerby burned a free position, one on one with Andrén.
The third period was undulating. With six minutes and 54 seconds remaining, Kelleher drove the puck up through his own zone and released Weigl behind the Vimmerby defense. The 32-year-old didn’t make any mistakes – but fired hard to score 2-1 with his first goal since returning to Djurgården.
Acknowledged with 20 seconds left
But the match did not end there, but it offered drama. With 20 seconds to play – in a game six against three – Vimmerby forced an equalizer through team captain Jakob Karlsson and took the match to overtime.
The extension ended goalless and Vimmerby forced a penalty shootout – where they then drew the longest straw and won 2-1. Jesper Kokkonen and Isak Hansen became penalty heroes for the home team, while Linus Klasen and Patrik Thoresen became penalty killers for Djurgården.
– It felt good right through. It was a sweaty match, but incredibly fun to be able to win on penalties and be able to decide, says Vimmerby goalkeeper Robin Christoffersson and elaborates on his
goal saves:
– I know pretty well what the guys are going to do. Then I’m absolutely sure that Hansen will go in and decide, so it felt completely clear.
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Tonight’s results in the hockey Allsvenskan
Björklöven-Östersund 2–1
Kalmar-Västerås 5–3
Karlskoga-Nybro 5–1
Mora-Oskarshamn 6–3
Södertälje-Almtuna 5–2
Tingsryd-AIK 1–3
Vimmerby-Djurgården 3–2 (after penalties)