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It was a tight situation in front of goal where Oskarshamn’s Olli Palola tried to poke in his second goal of the evening. When the puck left the goal area, Palola speared Armalis (pushed him with the tip of his club) and Armalis reacted immediately.
Palola was knocked down by Armalis and was left lying on the ice for several minutes before being helped out in the dressing room. The Finn was noticeably affected and had difficulty getting up.
Armalis went on a match penalty after the hit.
– It is an assault. I feel a little sick, I must say. He was not directly contactable during the break, says Oskarshamn’s coach Martin Filander to TV4 Play.
“A nasty assault”
SVT’s expert Jonas Andersson agrees with Filander and thinks that Armali’s punch should result in a long suspension, especially since Palola was completely unaware of the upcoming punch and incapable of protecting himself.
– It’s a disgusting assault! Sure, Armalis gets speared in the sequence before, but he has time to think. Add to that that there is an extra high risk of injury when you hit with the picking glove, which is not padded in all places. All in all, this means that I believe it should result in a long suspension, says Andersson.
Won in overtime
Leksand is coming off a difficult period where they broke a seven-match losing streak on Saturday. In tonight’s match, they got off to a good start against Oskarshamn with an early 2-0 lead. But Oskarshamn came back and was able to equalize at 2-2 towards the end of the second period through Palola.
Barely two minutes later, Armalis lost his composure against Palola.
Oskarshamn could not take advantage of the following numerical advantage or continue the momentum they gained in the second period. Instead, the third period was scoreless and the match went to overtime.
Once there, Leksand was sharpest and Max Veronneau scored the match-winning goal.