One by one, Djurgården’s players step off injured. This has been the case this autumn.
One step forward. Two steps back.
Djurgården brought in Örebrobacken Stefan Warg before the meeting with Färjestad, but instead Marc-André Gragnani got a feel for the warm-up and could not play in his own minicomeback after a few missed matches. Niclas Bergfors stepped down after just over a quarter of an hour.
One player in. Two players out to an already long injury list. Goalkeeper Mantas Armalis became ill and could not play.
So it would require a real effort for Djurgården against Färjestad. And it looked more or less pitch black after two periods.
Then Färjestad had a real grip on the match at Hovet. 3-1 lead. Per Åslund was a post hit from a hat trick to 4-1.
But led by team captain Marcus Sörensen, Djurgården managed to turn around. Sörensen struggled in 2-3. The audience, the more than 7,200 in the Court’s stands, got air in their lungs and hope in their hearts.
Ludvig Hedström forced in 3-3. His first SHL goal in his career before the Poles in Djurgårdsklacken.
Linus Andersson then turned the winning goal into 4-3 with a few minutes left and while Djurgårds fans began to realize that this was a very special evening they had to experience, Färjestad disappeared into the fog that begins to settle over the gold building at Klarälven’s shore in Karlstad.
Incomprehensibly, Färjestad lost the lead, the points and the match. After the loss, Jacob de la Rose, the World Cup gold winner, did not want to blame the diseases that have plagued the team recently for what should Djurgården counter with if not a list of injuries that is twice as long and three times as heavy as Färjestad’s absence list.
Djurgården needed the three points as much as Färjestad (another understatement) and led by Sörensen who furiously sent in 5-3 in an empty box, it was a victory.
Djurgården and the fans have a three-point party tonight at Hovet. #twittpuck #difhockey pic.twitter.com/5fX9dAVQFv
– HockeyNews.se (@HockeynewsSe) November 2, 2021
The first three-pointer at the Court this autumn. There were many heroes in Djurgården.
Without Gragnani, Marcus Högström and Tom Nilsson at the back, Linus Arnesson had to play over 24 minutes. Debutant Stefan Warg played 23 minutes. He had some serious mistakes, including one that led to a penalty for Färjestad at a 2-1 deficit, but Warg also gave Djurgården the necessary 100 kilos and otherwise a good puck treatment.
Many in Djurgården contributed to the win and it may have been a turnaround, not only in the match against Färjestad, but also this autumn.
Something extra is needed to speed up the Djurgården collective. As anxious as Djurgården was at Per Åslund’s 1-0 to Färjestad. Färjestad became just as tentative and searching when Marcus Sörensen scored 2-3. The match slipped Färjestad out of his fists.
Gold-betting Färjestad has eight points up to the top four, albeit with some hanging match to play, and head coach Johan Pennerborn has a lot to think about to make the whole Färjestad stick together and look like a top team.
Where the team wants to be but is not.
Djurgården has its own mathematics to sort out.
Last season, Linköping managed to escape the qualifiers by taking 62 points. Brynäs and HV71 during the qualifying line in the SHL had an even tougher season and HV eventually left.
After the victory against Färjestad, Djurgården has twelve points and is below the qualifying line.
There have been 16 matches of the SHL season and Djurgården has a points average of 0.75.
There are 36 games left of the season and with this pace in the points collection, Djurgården will reach 37 points. It is very far from what is needed to avoid qualifiers.
To get up to 62 points, which is probably about what is required to avoid a qualifier this spring, Djurgården needs to pick up 1.39 points per match for the rest of the season from the away match in Leksand on Thursday.
Malmö, which is currently tenth in the SHL, has 20 points in 16 matches, an average of 1.25 points.
So with the turn towards Färjestad in mind, Djurgården can begin to discern a light in the November darkness.
With the same hard work that has been put in lately and by perhaps also taking the lead in a few matches, the new coaching couple Mikael Aaro and Nichlas Falk should be able to get order at Djurgården.
In a few matches, players like Mantas Armalis, Tom Nilsson, Sebastian Strandberg and Linus Videll should be back. Maybe even more.
It should help Djurgården even more in the fight to hand over the qualifying spot to Linköping, which is three points ahead – with 36 matches left to play.
