Facts: The WC semi-finals
Best of seven matches applies.
Växjö–Frölunda, the score is 2–2 in matches.
8/4, match 5: Växjö–Frölunda, 10/4, match 6: Frölunda–Växjö, possibly 12/4, match 7: Växjö–Frölunda.
Skellefteå–Örebro, the position 1–2 in matches.
7/4, match 4: Örebro–Skellefteå, 9/4, match 5: Skellefteå–Örebro, possibly 11/4, match 6: Örebro–Skellefteå, possibly 13/4, match 7: Skellefteå–Örebro.
Erik Josefsson, 36-year-old team captain in Växjö, missed the third semi-final at home – which Frölunda won with the only goal.
Now he led his Växjö to victory in an almost equally low-scoring match.
Växjö’s lead goal came after 2.56, in a situation where Ryan Lasch in Frölunda was dragging himself off the ice after being hit. Josefsson liked the pass from Ludvig Nilsson.
— I’m not going to say that I aimed that well, he admits about the shot that went past Lasse Johansson in Frölunda’s goal.
“Nice to get dividends”
The goal felt important.
– It was nice that we got a dividend quite early in the match, to be able to build on that, and then have an incredible fighting spirit and an incredible hard work throughout the match, says Erik Josefsson.
The team captain played just two minutes and 24 seconds throughout the match.
Josefsson talks about “small problems” and does not want to go into more detail about what problems are stopping him. It is unclear if he can play in the next game, on Saturday.
— We’ll see how it turns out, says Erik Josefsson.
He remained on the bench throughout Thursday’s game.
“You can’t get a better audience place,” says Josefsson.
From there, he got to, among other things, see Joachim Blichfeld score 2–0 on a counterattack in the second period, and enjoy that goalkeeper Emil Larmi kept a clean sheet with a big game for Växjö.
— I think we find keys in our game with which we can hurt Frölunda quite well, says Erik Josefsson and states:
— Now we have taken back the home advantage.
Reversal of roles
Roger Rönnberg, coach in Frölunda, thinks that the teams had switched roles on Thursday, compared to the Gothenburgers’ 1-0 victory in Växjö last time.
— There are two teams that are incredibly even, says Rönnberg and talks about bounces or decides.
— It’s easy to feel small and weak after a match like this and think you have to fix everything possible. But there is so incredibly little that makes a difference, and that’s exactly how it was two days ago. It’s just a matter of taking courage, reasons Roger Rönnberg.
Växjö was still a bit sharper, and more stable, than Frölunda this time. Even with an extra outfield player in the final minutes, Frölunda didn’t manage to get the puck in behind Emil Larmi.
— Victory is victory. That’s all that matters, says Emil Larmi to C More after the final whistle.