Johan Garbinlov immediately wins with his team Djurgården.
But at the same time, he can see how much work awaits him after an upset 2-1 against Tingsryd.
Djurgården did not impress even in the easiest home game of the season on paper.
Two unknown juniors had to step forward to make a decision.
In addition, the unusual event of being overtaken by Djurgården in the table occurred, despite the fact that they had all three points.
But Södertälje continues to run like a train and crushes Ostersund with xx at home in Scaniarinken.
This means that they have overtaken Stockholm by x goals, as both teams have the same 44 points.
At the same time, Djurgården had to fight back from table jumbo Tingsryd in front of the lyric Hovet.
This is not a good sign.
And as always, I wonder where Djurgården’s big stars have gone.
Markus Kruger, Jonas Broden, John Norman, Linus Claassen.
I didn’t expect them to be completely in control, but I did expect them to make as big of an impression as the returnees from Timrå in the SHL with Anton Lander, Emil Petersson, Jonathan Dahlin and Anton Wieden taking a step forward.
But they weren’t there
These two teams met in the playoffs as recently as last spring, but have taken very different paths since then.
Djurgården had already sacked coach Joachim Wagerfall and had to start over with Johan Garbenlov in the booth.
He must find a way forward for a struggling team that already looks like they missed out on the series victory.
The question that Johann Garbinloff must solve
Modu is flush there at the top and wins all the must-win matches, like against Kristianstad this evening when they went from 0-1 to 3-1.
They are not conceding any points and are already thirteen points below Södertälje and Djurgården.
I don’t want to call it impregnable, but almost.
Djurgården was saved by his youngster Karl Lindhome in the penalty area in more ways than I can count and is the biggest reason why Djurgården is third.
This evening, two juniors stepped forward.
Two with thin pay envelopes compared to the big returnees.
David Blomgren threw himself forward and scored 1-0 after defender Cam Schilling hit the post and the puck was behind Thomas Redden past Tingsred.
Perhaps the least famous player among Djurgården’s juniors scored his first hockey goal in the Allsvenskan team.
But he was beaten by Mika Onasfori, who made it 2-0 early in the second.
The nineteen-year-old scored only his third game in the A team and also his first goal in Allsvenskan.
At the time, I thought it would go away, even though Zoos have been adept at losing a 2-0 lead this season.
Tingsryd reduced the numerical advantage, however, when defender Simon Åkerström made it 2-1 after a 14-30 run in the second half.
And suddenly the match was open.
I wouldn’t have protested if Tingsred equalized when he brought the goalkeeper out at the end, even though Djurgården were the better team the whole match.
But when will it bear fruit?
This is the question Garpen must solve.
It doesn’t get any easier than the fact that he could lose five regular players to the JVM over Christmas and New Years.
And the success of the goalkeeper ensured Lindbom.
But there are more struggling major teams out there.
Björklöven could only make the decision at home against Västervik with a minute and a half left, when Jerry Fitzgerald broke the deadlock.
Then Maxime Fortier made it 2-0 into an empty net.
But Löven has had almost as much difficulty as Djurgården impressing over time. There were very deep valleys.
The two teams who were clear favorites meet in the Allsvenskan final.
That could still be the case, of course, but for now Modo and Södertälje dominate the scene.
Almost completely.