It was loud singing and crowd pressure for the first time since the spring of 2020, Marcus Sörensen had returned from the NHL and the well-qualified coach Barry Smith would usher in a new era for most ice hockey champions.
There were probably expectations in the air when Djurgården’s supporters were back at Hovet – even though their team’s pre-season was not directly free of setbacks.
New acquisitions have joined late at the same time as several players have suffered defects of various kinds where the long-term injuries to team captains Jacob Josefson and Manuel Ågren have hurt the most. And once the puck was released against Skellefteå, it was not long before the guests silenced the premiere atmosphere in front of the 2,076 spectators at the Court.
– We had a tough first period. I knew it would be difficult for us, says Barry Smith and continues:
– We had not gathered the whole team until Tuesday. We did not move the puck correctly and everything went quite slowly so we got no rhythm. It is a good match for us to evaluate what we need to do to become a better team.
Despite a lively start of Stockholmers, the position was 0–3 after just over half of the first period. Newly recruited Stefan Loibl gave Skellefteå the lead after a performance from another new acquisition, Adam Mascherin, after eight minutes of play. This was the start of a collapse and nightmare period for Djurgården.
Melker Karlsson increased the lead shortly afterwards and within just two minutes and 41 seconds the away team had scored three goals on goalkeeper Niklas Svedberg, this after even team captain Oscar Möller got the puck over the goal line by a narrow margin.
– It is in the first ten minutes that we lose the match. It’s not fun to lose that way. I do not know if it was because there was an audience here and we want to play too nicely from the start, but we gave the pucks to them and they used it mercilessly, says the new acquisition Linus Videll who was captain in Jacob Josefsson’s absence.
However, Djurgården quickly replicated through Marcus Högström and then started the second period at an intense pace – but efficiency was Skellefteå who stood for.
After a sly coffin who put two Djurgård players in their own zone, Linus Karlsson was able to fire a quick shot and make it 4-1. The home team’s Ludvig Rensfeldt kept the tension alive by reducing once again a couple of minutes later – and shortly afterwards Djurgården got a golden chance to shrink the distance further with games five against three for over a minute.
A 3-4 goal was immediately necessary to create nerve before the third period – but the full hit failed. Instead, Skellefteå could hold off and even extend their lead when Djurgården took out the goalkeeper at the end of the match. Oskar Nilsson showed proof of fine precision when he from his own zone scored the abandoned goal and set the final score at 2-5.
Linus Videll does not want to blame the loss of the manfall that made it difficult for the team to prepare – but …
– Of course it affects a little, but there is nothing that we can have as an excuse. I think we were ready for this match and tried to do what we were supposed to.
Marcus Högström, however, urges calm and sees no reason to dig in even if the result did not turn out as Djurgården wanted.
– On the other hand, there are many new people who need to get into it. I’m not so worried, we will get better all the time. There is a lot to take off, says the hill.
Djurgården will have to take new steps away against Linköping on Thursday. The better start to the season was for the guests’ coach Robert Ohlsson who was back at Hovet after five seasons in Djurgården.
Read more:
Frölunda collapsed in the premiere – victory for Brynäs
Barry Smith on Djurgården’s new venture: “Can not say how it will end”
“If you can not handle pressure, you should not be in this world”
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