New York. Elmer Soderblum’s dream came true last night.
He scored straight on his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings.
It was an absolutely unbelievable feeling, says the 21-year-old from Gothenburg after the finale that had mum Susan and dad Martin cheering in the stands.
After a successful training camp during pre-season, rookie Elmer Soderblom got the chance Detroit Red Wings The premiere team, despite the fierce competition – and it can be safely said that the slightly more than two-meter-high Gothenburger took the premiere of the night against Montreal Canadiens In front of 19,000 fans at the massive Little Caesars Arena.
After two stints in which the Red Wings dominated just right without getting a hole in the big play Jake Allen — he stopped 25 shots in the first half alone — it was Elmer who broke the deadlock.
The goal was decisive
After Oskar Sundqvist debuted with Michael Rasmussen behind the penalty area, he grabbed a rebound just outside the field of goal – and shot 1-0.
He’s just a crucial goal in his first NHL game — every hockey player dreams his whole life, so understandably he couldn’t force a happy smile while sitting in the booth and the fans never wanted to stop cheering.
It was an absolutely incredible feeling, says Elmer when he met the media afterwards.
– Everything was great. I can’t wait to play more matches in front of these fans.
Some who couldn’t hold back the happy smiles were the mother and father, who had traveled from Sweden to follow up on their son’s debut on site. Mother Susan, in particular, seemed to have a hard time believing this was an instant success and stunned her in the stands.
– Yes, I’m glad they were here. It was fun for them to live in the NHL, Elmer says, smiling again.
“Really good through”
So Oskar Sundqvist was in charge of helping and also made sure to pick up the disc from the ice, so that his new teammate could put it in his honorary place on the bookshelf.
– Elmer was really good, and the fact that he managed to score his first goal right away was so much fun to see and be involved in. It was just the first of many goals he will score in this league, ‘Sunken’ tells Sportbladet.
The wings eventually won 3-0 – after two late goals in an empty net.
Immediately after the final whistle, the team rushed to the airport to fly to Newark, where they would face the New Jersey Devils the following night.
Victor Hedman played his 900th game in the National Hockey League last night — and celebrated the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first win of the season.
They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, away, 5-2.
“It was a good game, and that’s what we needed before tomorrow’s game against Pittsburgh,” said coach John Cooper.
A cheerful Hedman was in charge of helping.
The home team can take satisfaction in the fact that a confused Jonny Goudreau scored his first goal – and that Swede Gustav Nyquist also scored.
The New York Rangers got off to a great start to the season with wins over both Tampa and Minnesota, but against Winnipeg last night – in the third game in four days – it was cut short.
The Gates team won the opening match at home 4-1.