Lulea completely stripped the HV71 in the opening of the fateful match in Jönköping.
It was a class smash and a bye class, bye HV.
Almost everything points to a state of anxiety between the people of Småland and Malmö.
First drop at 19.30 on March 14th.
It’s been a lot of sleepless nights until then, but as the HV71 looked this afternoon, they’re not worth hanging around without qualifying.
Or it was Lolia who was terribly effective, although earlier this season she can’t be blamed.
Meanwhile, Brenas won away to Malmö 2-1, following drama and a late winning goal by 18-year-old Theo Lindstein.
That was the last straw for Malmö.
And Scania’s resounding 4-0 win over Vrjestad the last time around turned out to be nothing more than a fluke.
Math that does not add up
But that late goal and the three points for Brenas was also a nightmare for HV71.
With fourteen rounds left to play, the gap is so great that accounts show they are close to impunity.
Nothing is impossible, but then something extreme has to happen.
HV71 now has eight points over Brynäs with 14 rounds left to play.
They need to concede 0.59 points each round to catch up.
Then we’re talking about a team that’s averaging 1.05 points per game so far against a Brynäs team that’s averaging 1.26.
We will not talk about Malmö.
They need to score about one point per round to threaten the visitors.
It’s math that doesn’t add up.
Then Brynäs has another advantage compared to the HV71
They play eight of their remaining 14 matches at home, while HV71, the worst away team in the league, play eight away.
This week or so has been Småland’s chance to connect, with four straight home matches.
It started well with a penalty win over Oskarshamn on Tuesday, but then there was a loss and zero points when Leksand won 3-2.
And now another loss and two points out of a possible nine ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Timra.
Not enough in the long run.
Lulia no longer had to look over her shoulder
lolia?
No, I’m already counting the northern bottoms from the bottom battle.
Against HV71 it looked like they were playing in a division of their own for the first two halves.
Smålanders had not scored in Luleå in two previous meetings this season.
Trailing 2-0 at the start gave it the feeling that it was already over before half of the first period was even played, as defenseman Jonathan Anderson made an honorable blue zone take after 5.28 and Brendan Sheenemin finished an ice cold. Free with Johnny Ortillo when it was 8.51.
The second half was only 1.53 minutes long when the hot Sheinmin lifted himself up 3-0 against Orrio.
He played perfectly with Linus Froberg as when he scored 2-0.
Johani Tervenen went up to 4-0 and then of course that was over.
Lulea gambled on the outcome and HV71 had to settle for a clean sheet against Norbottening after an eleven goalless period.
It was 5-2 at the end, after Tyrväinen scored his second goal when he sent the puck into the empty box at the end.
Luleå no longer has to look over his shoulder, but can start looking at the table.
Basically, it was the final round of 16 and Timra helped them beat Linköping with a score of 6-2.
It’s only one point to Östgötan now.
Timrå has now three straight wins, after breaking a six-game losing streak.
But none of the established superstars has ever stepped forward and become a grand champion in matches.
It was Ruben Alvarez who opened the match with a score of 1–0 and 2–0 and then completed his hat-trick as he finished it 6–2.
He also caught an assist for Jonathan Dahlin, making it 5-1.