Frölunda through after a dramatic finish

24 Mar 2015Henrik Lundqvist»

Frölunda was the last team to qualify for the SHL semi finals but Luleå didn't make it easy for them.

Frölunda HC - Luleå HF 4 - 2 (0-0, 2-0, 2-2) Series 4-3
Frölunda was down 3-1 in the quarter final series against CHL winner Luleå but managed to win the last three games to advance to the semi finals.

"I'm glad it is over", said the Frölunda captain Joel Lundqvist to TV12. "It was a tough series".

The final minutes of the game were very dramatic. Anton Axelsson scored 3-0 for Frölunda at 58:12 and the home crowd as well as the Fölunda leaders and players celebrated and thought that the game was already won. But Luleå didn't give up. Jonathan Granström scored 3-1 at 58:56 while Luleå played on the power play and had pulled goalie Joel Lassinantti. Just 12 seconds later Chris Abbott managed to get the puck past Lars Johansson and suddenly there was only a one-goals difference between the teams with 52 seconds to go. Luleå tried all they could but couldn't get any more decent scoring chances. Instead Mattias Janmark easily made it 4-2 with yet another empty-netter 17 seconds before the end.

Frölunda's first two goals were scored by Ryan Lasch in the second period. His first goals of the playoffs. In the semi finals Frölunda will play Växjö while Skellefteå will play Linköping.

IF Malmö Redhawks - Leksands IF 3 - 1 (2-0, 0-1, 1-0) Series 2-2
Malmö tied the series against Leksand in the qualification for SHL. Former Leksand player Jens Jakobs scored 1-0 for the home team and Nicklas Jadeland made it 2-0 - both in the first period. Jon Knuts scored Leksand's goal late in the second period but Nils Andersson secured Malmö's 3-1 win with five minutes to go of the game with a nice individual performance.