Linköping climbed one position, to seventh place, through the two points. HV71 remains in second last place in the table.
— This was fun, a big, big victory – a team victory, says match hero Ty Rattie to C More.
Since the national team break in November, HV71 had won five out of eight games, before November 19 there had only been one victory. And after two periods, it looked like it would be a seventh win of the season and a real jump up the table.
After the goalless first period, in front of packed stands (8,190 spectators), the Jönköping team’s first goal came after 1.51 in the second period.
“We were efficient and created long attacks and created the chances,” says the match’s first goalscorer, Emil Andrae, to C More.
The 2-0 also came about because the Linköping goalkeeper Marcus Högberg was obscured. At 3–0, the puck was directed in via a Linköping player’s skate.
At the beginning of the third period, Linköping reduced through Ty Rattie, who scored the tenth SHL goal of the season. Just over three minutes later came the next Linköping goal, through Vilmos Gallo.
Linköping continued to press and with 17 seconds left in the game, Ty Rattie equalized with his second goal of the evening and took the game to overtime. Once there, the Canadian needed only 30 seconds to decide the match.
— I had no choice but to shoot, says Rattie.