Rögle was in the SM final in 2021 (loss against Växjö) and won the regular season last season. In the playoffs, the Skåne team went to the semi-finals against the eventual SM gold winner Färjestad, who in turn beat Luleå in the final last spring.
This season, neither Rögle nor Luleå will see a direct SC final. Instead, both teams are fighting to reach the round of 16 (ranking 7–10) with six regular season games left to play.
When the teams met in Ängelholm on Thursday evening, penalties were required to decide a winner (1-1 after regular time and extra time). Once there, Linus Sandin shot the extra point to Rögle at the same time as home goalkeeper Christoffer Rifalk saved three Luleå penalties.
Rögle, with his 69 points, remains ninth in the table. Luleå has 64 points and is just below the playoff mark – one point behind tian Linköping.
Everberg made a comeback
Dennis Everberg has been off the ice due to injury since the end of October, but the Röglestjärnan made a comeback when the home team dominated the first period against Luleå in front of 5,796 spectators.
Rögle won the shots on goal by 12–2, but had to settle for a 1–0 lead at halftime. After 3.04 minutes, Brady Ferguson lifted the lead goal after away goalkeeper Joel Lassinantti left a rebound.
In the second period it was almost the opposite. Luleå created a lot of pressure against Christoffer Rifalk in the home goal for a long time, but also had to settle for getting a puck in.
After barely seven minutes, Tomi Sallinen sent in the 1-1 puck – deliciously played by Joonas Rask. The goal was Sallinen’s – he joined Luleå at the beginning of December from Czech Brno – first in the Luleå jersey.
“Hard words”
The relegation came after the Luleå players said one thing or another to each other in the dressing room during the period break.
— Those were rather harsh words. We can leave what is said there, but we were honest with each other. You can’t back down into a playoff, you have to push the gas to the bottom, said team captain Erik Gustafsson to C More.
The third period was more even in terms of chances, but the period ended goalless and so did extra time. Once in penalties, Linus Sandin decided.