Weekly Recap: Rögle Impresses on the Road

Quarterfinals

The playoffs are officially in full swing with the first two games of the quarterfinals in the bag. One of the series, however, has started in a way that not many people could've predicted. 

After their victory over Timrå in the play in round Rögle ended up being the lowest seed heading into the quarterfinals, which meant they would be facing off against top seeded Färjestad. Being the top seed, Färjestad is guaranteed home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, so the first two games of the series took place in Karlstad.

Coming into the series Rögle had not won a single game against Färjestad all season and were outscored 12-4 in the four games they played over the course of the regular season. In fact Rögles last victory against Färjestad came all the way back on December 1st of 2022 so most people expected Färjestad to have a fairly easy series against them. That is not what has transpired so far. 

Game one on Thursday evening was where Rögle showed the league that they are here to play. Färjestad would open the scoring in the first frame and take a 1-0 lead into the second period. This is where Rögle blew it wide open. In less than 13 minutes in the second period Rögle would find the back of the net five times to take a commanding 5-1 lead. This included a pair of goals from both Dennis Everberg and Linus Sandin, and one goal from Rodrigo Abols. Sandin also assisted on both of Everbergs goals. After the period concluded, Färjestad pulled Carl Lindbom and put Max Legacé between the pipes for the third frame. 

The third period saw Färjestad score a shorthanded goal, however that would not be nearly enough as a sixth and final goal from Rögle would seal the deal and they would come away with the huge 6-2 victory on the road. 

FREDRIK KARLSSON / BILDBYRÅN

Linus Sandin, Rögle.

Game two took place on Saturday evening as Färjestad was looking to bounce back and hoping to head to Ängelholm with a tied series. Rögle had other plans. 

Rögle managed to hold Färjestad to just 19 shots on net all game long and Christoffer Rifalk turned aside all of them. Rögle also peppered Carl Lindbom between the pipes with 35 shots of their own. A pair of goals in the first and one in the third were enough for Rögle who came away with the 3-0 shutout win and take an unlikely 2-0 series lead back to Ängelholm for games 3 and 4. 

The other series in the quarterfinals have been fairly straight forward so far. The Växjö Lakers, who are the second seed in the post season, have managed to come away with wins in the first two games of the series against Luleå with a 5-3 victory on Thursday and a 2-1 Victory on Saturday. That series now shifts up north to Luleå for games 3 and 4. 

Linköping has had a decent showing in Skellefteå, unfortunately they dont have anything to show for it as they have lost both opening games in overtime and will head home looking to put on a good show for their fans. 

The final series of the quarterfinals is the only one to be tied as Leksand and Frölunda have both won one game. That series now shifts back to Leksand for games 3 and 4. 

Malmö

The majority of this weeks off ice news pertains to players who will not be returning to their club for next season.  

The Redhawks will see a mass exodus of players this off season as eight players are expected to depart Malmö. These players are Nuutti Viitasalo, Alan Quine, Janne Kuokkanen, Kim Rosdahl, Adam Werner, Joakim Ryan, Lauri Pajuniemi and Tomi Sallinen.

MoDo

MoDo is in a similar situation as they will be saying goodbye to nine players who will not be returning next year. Kristians Rubins, Daniel Brickley, Hugo Styf, Josh Dickinson, Erik Walli Walterholm, Daniel O'Regan, Kyle Topping, Helmer Styf, Karl Umegård and Emil Wahlberg will be looking elsewhere in the off season. 

Timrå

Timrå will be losing four players this off season as Panu Mieho, Joonas Lyytinen, Robin Hanzl and Axel Rindell will not be returning to the team next season. 

Örebro

Örebro announced this week that a trio of players will be departing the club. Rasmus Rissanen, Danick Martel and Oliver Eklind will not be returning for next season. 

Söderström

The one player signing that did occur this week pertains to Linus Söderström. The 27 year old goaltender has been spectacular between the pipes for Skellefteå over the past two seasons. Last season he was named the SHL's best goaltender and won the Honken Trophy as the Swedish Goaltender of the Year. This season he posted a record of 23-12 a 2.03 GAA a .913 SV% and 3 shutouts. He has now signed a a new contract with the team.

– It feels good to finish with Linus. He has had another good season where he performed at a high level but also managed to play a lot of games. Being able to keep the same pair of goalkeepers until next season feels really good, says Skellefteå's GM Erik Forssell.

The new contract is valid through next season. 

FREDRIK KARLSSON / Bildbyrån