Malmö Redhawks needed to get important points in the home meeting against bottom competitor HV71.
In a tight battle at the bottom, the gap to the Jönköping team could grow to seven points.
With a miserable home form and just two points out of a possible 21 in the last seven games, the odds were against the Scanias.
— We have to take care of the opponents’ mistakes and we haven’t done that. In many matches we have been in the lead but lost it, and it sucks quite a lot of energy when you play quite well but don’t get the points, said captain Fredrik Händemark before the match.
Enhanced with Nicholas Shore
The visitors were also a team in need of points and the question was whether the HV players could break the dismal streak of four straight losses. Now they came to play after being held to zero at home by Linköping on Boxing Day.
— There will be ugly knocking about every millimeter. If you look at the table and the value of the match, you realize what is required, said coach Tommy Samuelsson, and the question now was whether his men or the home team in Malmö Arena would be the most desperate in the hunt for the important points.
HV had won both previous meetings of the season between the teams. Now they also had reinforcements with Nicholas Shore, who recently arrived from Swiss Ambri-Piotta. After a misplaced pass, he had the best scoring chance of the first period, but the shot went narrowly over the crossbar and the opening 20 minutes ended goalless.
Marmenlind left injured
— Nick has been surprisingly good. It’s been rough out there, but he handled it well, Samuelsson praised his new Canadian acquisition during the break.
Five minutes into the second act, however, the visitors’ lead came when Mikkel Bödker offered Danish dynamite. The hard shot was well up in Daniel Marmelind’s left cross and gave HV an excellent hitting position for the final act.
Halfway into the third period, the home team’s chances worsened further. A collision led to Daniel Marmenlind hitting Oliver Lauridsen on the leg so badly that he was forced to break the match. When second goalkeeper Adam Werner was also sick and missing, the home team was forced to use junior goalkeeper Oskar Blomgren, who thus made his SHL debut.
Blomgren: “Very nervous”
That’s why it came like a bolt from the blue when Johan Olofsson, with one less man on the ice, countered to make it 1-1.
18-year-old Blomgren let a few shots pass him and when Carl Söderberg in Sudden death headed in Marcus Sylvegård’s shot, Malmö’s nightmare streak was broken.
— It was very nervous, says Blomgren and continues:
— I got help from my teammates who calmed me down. Then it was just a matter of driving. It is very nice.
With the victory, Malmö is only three points behind HV in the table.