Earlier this week, both Hugo Alnefelt and Felix Sandström made their NHL debuts.
Now a third Swedish goalkeeper has also had to make his NHL debut this week.
Arvid Söderblom was substituted and saved 15 shots when his Chicago lost 6-1 to Nashville.
Arvid Söderblom has really made a rocket career in recent years.
In 2018/19 he played in Hockeyettan with Hanhals, 2019/20 in HockeyAllsvenskan with Tingsryd and after impressing in the SHL with Skellefteå, he got an NHL contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.
That led to him making his NHL debut for the Blackhawks on New Year’s Day when he was substituted and saved 15 shots in the game against the Nashville Predators.
– It was fun to play. I’ve been dreaming of playing in the NHL since I was little. It was fun, but a tough match. I think I played pretty well and made some good saves, says Söderblom after the match.
Even though it was a memorable match for the 22-year-old from Hovås, it was not a fun match for the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks.
FORSBERG & EKHOLM DELIVERED
Filip Forsberg gave the home team Nashville the lead after just one minute of play and the “Preds” then extended to 3-0 before the end of the first period. Forsberg also provided an assist for the first 20 minutes while Mattias Ekholm matched all three goals.
It was then like Collin Delia The Chicago goal was exchanged after conceding three goals on seven shots and Arvid Söderblom came in.
However, it started tough for Söderblom then Tanner Jeannot scored after just 28 seconds and the 22-year-old let in the first shot he got in the NHL. After five minutes in the second period, the 5-0 goal for Nashville also came before Söderblom recovered and ended the match strongly.
Nashville, however, was able to win the match with a crushing 6-1.
– I felt that the boys were ready to play. They were tagged and we had a lot of puck. I do not think it was a bad match on our part. I liked our start and we had chances to score but were able to get the puck in. The difference was that Nashville took advantage of their positions, says Blackhawks coach Derek King.
Nashville Predators – Chicago Blackhawks 6–1 (3-0,2-1,1-0)
Nashville: Tanner Jeannot 2 (10), Filip Forsberg (15), Ryan Johansen (10), Nick Cousins (5), Roman Josi (11).
Chicago: Philipp Kurashev (2).
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The Toronto Maple Leafs had a longer break due to several in the team testing positive for covid-19. Tonight’s clash against the Ottawa Senators was Toronto’s first game since December 14.
Then was William Nylander in a great game mood when he scored two goals when Toronto won 6-0. This means that “Lill-Nyllet” has now scored 15 NHL goals this season and he is thus in the shared lead of the Swedish shooting league.
Rasmus Sandin was also noted for an assist point for the Leafs in the big win.
Toronto Maple Leafs – Ottawa Senators 6–0 (2-0,1-0,3-0)
Toronto: William Nylander 2 (15), Ilja Mikhejev 2 (2), Justin Holl (1), TJ Brodie (2).
Ottawa: –
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Wow, what a night for Viktor Arvidsson!
The Swedish forward, who was traded to the Los Angeles Kings from the Nashville Predators before the season, accounted for his best effort in the Kings jersey. He scored two goals and accounted for two assists in the team’s 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Arvidsson has now scored 18 points in 28 games for the LA Kings and is on his way to his best NHL season since 2018/19.
Also Adrian Kempe stayed ahead of Los Angeles last night and scored his 14th goal of the season is thus already only three goals away from putting a new personal best in the NHL as his best goal record is 16 goals from the 2017/18 season.
Los Angeles Kings – Philadelphia Flyers 6–3 (2-1,2-0,2-2)
The Angels: Viktor Arvidsson 2 (8), Trevor Moore (4), Adrian Kempe (14), Brendan Lemieux (7), Phillip Danault (5).
Philadelphia: Joel Farabee (10), Kevin Hayes (3), Ivan Provorov (4).
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In their last game, the Vancouver Canucks saw their winning streak of seven games come to an end when they lost to the LA Kings.
During the night, however, they got back on the winning track by defeating Seattle Kraken 5-2. Nils Höglander shot one of the goals, his eighth of the season, and Oliver Ekman Larsson was noted for an assist in the victory. For Kraken shot Calle Järnkrok one of the goals and Alexander Wennberg was noted for a pass point.
The Vancouver Canucks have now scored in all nine games since Bruce Boudreau took over as the new head coach.
Seattle Kraken – Vancouver Canucks 2–5 (0-2,1-0,1-3)
Seattle: Calle Järnkrok (4), Will Borgen (1).
Vancouver: Vasily Podkolzin (7), Nils Höglander (8), Tyler Motte (3), Conor Garland (10), Tanner Pearson (6).
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The Floirda Panthers continue to impress big in the NHL and after the 9-3 crush against Tampa Bay Lightning last time, now came a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Someone who is in very good shape at the moment is the star forward Jonathan huberdeau. After scoring five points in the last 9-3 win, he accounted for three assists in tonight’s match.
Huberdeau has thus scored eight (!) Points in the last two games and he thus advances to a fourth place in the NHL’s scoring.
Florida Panthers – Montreal Canadiens 5–2 (1-1,2-1,2-0)
Florida: Sam Bannet 2 (11), Aleksander Barkov (12), Frank Vatrano (8), Mason Marchment (2).
Montreal: Jonathan Drouin (6), Nick Suzuki (7).
IN FOCUS: Viktor Arvidsson’s performance against Philadelphia
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