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If we start looking at the statistics of the match, there are some things that stand out much more.
After 50 minutes, Frölunda HC had a fantastic chance to reply, but his shot went harmless to the side of the net.
Also: Färjestad had covered 19 shots, compared to Frölunda’s three.
– It’s a great night, if you, as a hockey coach, are going to have faith that attitude wins games. By that I mean that Färjestad wins awfully fair. They have the attitude from minute one to minute 60 and are as desperate as we expected, says disappointed coach Roger Rönnberg.
Yes, Färjestad invited 500 diners in restaurants and hostels and 50 regular spectators in the stands for a royal stroll in the first period. At home in the Löfbergs Arena, he was an extra of everything for 20 minutes, and the league leaders from Gothenburg had a hard time with math.
A couple of times Jacob Nilsson and Pontus Widerström had to stand completely free in front of Johan Mattsson, forgotten in a calculation that went wrong.
In the end, Oskar Bäck also went 1-0 between the legs of the Frölunda goalkeeper, and it was Färjestad’s period even though Johan Sundström could have tied when he had a completely free kick at the end.
– The top ten are by far the worst we’ve done this season. We should be happy it’s only 1-0 after 20, admits Simon Hjalmarsson.
How can you miss the attitude when, as the leader of the league, you go to Karlstad to meet the worst opponent?
– It is so difficult to reach that level of struggle, to face that despair. It depends on the opponent you are facing. It’s like you’re boxing. If you are approaching a super heavyweight or if you are going to face a featherweight. Today we met a super heavyweight in Färjestad, who was thirsty for blood. So it is important to reach that level. That is what we did not achieve today, says Roger Rönnberg.
A lousy first period was followed by a perfectly good second for Frölunda. But the team still has big problems with one more man on the ice, looking for passes instead of shots.
And when the shots came, yeah … then there was a body dressed in green on the road most of the time. That willingness to sacrifice did not seem to exist in Frölunda, who often gave an extra turn or pass that went directly to the goal.
– We are too round. Sure, it is a time zone, but it is not an attack on goal. We end up on the outside, we don’t get real finishes, and once we do, we’re locked in and we don’t have gloom on those shots either, assists assistant captain Simon Hjalmarsson.
In the third period, it also took just 34 seconds before the puck was behind Johan Mattsson on the net. A small youthful defensive game from Jesper Sellgren and a less successful effort from Frölunda goalkeeper, and Michael Lindqvist was able to double Färjestad’s lead.
Färjestad simply fought Frölunda.
– We should be able to score more goals, but they play more desperately than we do. In a long season, it will be like this. There are no excuses, but the body and the skull do not sink and then nothing works. It was all half a second too late today, and then they chewed us up, says Simon Hjalmarsson.
And when Carl Jakobsson rose to 3-0, of course, the match was over. A pale Frölunda lost the league lead to Luleå.
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