First period
What an atmosphere the crowd in Löfbergs Arena offered before the match and ten feet in the stands was really nice! It continued in the line-up, where the returner Oskar Steen brought down a huge cheer.
When the match started it was intense and full speed in both directions. Joel Nyström got the first position but in the middle of the shooting sector the FBK defender shot close outside Röglekassen.
In the middle of the period Josh Dickinson broke free, he put the puck between the legs of Max Lagacé in the FBK goal but the puck caught the left post before it was knocked away.
David Tomasek had a double chance in the twelfth minute, but both times the puck hit close to Christoffer Rifalk in the Röglemålet.
It got heated between the players and there were more and more emotions the longer the period lasted.
Second period
The goalless score was broken immediately when Lukas Ekeståhl-Jonsson’s back-shot went in behind an obscured FBK goalkeeper.
The acknowledgment came a couple of minutes later when FBK had a numerical advantage. David Tomasek shot and the puck slid in via Mattias Göransson with the help of Joakim Nygård, who set it up for Röglebacken. 1-1 after 3:31!
The teams now lined up goal chances where the goalkeepers Lagacé and Rifalk were put to the test.
Rögle’s Henry Bowlby was given a free-kick but shot over. The home team’s Viktor Lodin got free on the right wing and shot wide in the twelfth minute.
FBK now had a really good period where they pushed Rögle deep into their own zone and it smelled like a home goal.
But Rögle got a numerical advantage where Anton Bengtsson instead sent in the 1-2 puck after a return. Lagacé was again obscured, now by his own player.
Third period
FBK incurred a dismissal in the third minute but managed it without conceding a goal. In a five-on-five game, Rögle continued to lay on and Lagacé was hard at work in the FBK goal.
FBK eventually leveled the game and in the eighth minute Joakim Nygård went free. The puck bounced for him, the finish was half-assed and Rifalk saved.
In the middle of the period, Rögle got a quick turn of the game where Brady Ferguson tried the kitchen route. Lagacé saved but Ferguson got the rebound into the minimal opening that was next to the first post to make it 1-3.
Now good advice was expensive for FBK, who now bet hard offensively against a Rögle who defended their two-goal lead. It was extremely eventful with a free possession for Viktor Lodin, a cross shot from Rögle before David Tomasek was able to reduce with a direct shot up to the right crossbar. 2-3 with five minutes left!
With 2:33 left, FBK received a penalty after Joakim Nygård was pulled down in a free position. David Tomasek took care of the penalty and splashed the puck hard at the right post. 3-3!
With 33 seconds left, FBK got a numerical advantage and they were very close to getting a winning puck, but it went to overtime.
Extension
FBK had to continue playing with one more man, now four against three. But it was Rögle who had the best position when Albin Sundsvik came free, but Lagacé saved strongly!
In a three-on-three game, the teams exchanged chances with each other, Michael Lindqvist had a great drive through where the puck slipped centimeters outside the right crossbar.
FBK changed goalkeepers in the final minute where Damien Clara replaced Max Lagacé.
Sentencing
Rögle served his first penalty. Oskar Steen dropped a bouncing puck but caught it and lifted it up in the right crossbar. Clara saved for FBK before David Tomasek hit the right post. The third round was scoreless and Rögle missed his fourth penalty. Then Tomasek stepped forward and decided the game with his third goal of the evening.
