Playing in high-stakes games in the Champions Hockey League is part and parcel of the Swedish hockey experience, and last night Frölunda Gothenburg and Luleå Hockey illustrated why when they engineered a 2-2 game in a hard-fought match that saw both sides control the pace for stretches of the contest.
Frölunda struck first eight minutes into their seventh Semi-Finals appearance when defenceman Andreas Borgman volleyed a backhand from an impossible angle to give his team the early advantage.
“We had some good minutes and some bad minutes,” admitted Ryan Lasch, who, despite having a quiet night on the score card, still had an impact on his team’s play as he regularly kept the opponents on their toes when the puck was on his stick.
A successful first period, however, segued into a disappointing second that saw Luleå net two goals, including one on the powerplay.
“I think we have to do a better job in the second, that’s where we got down a bit and let them take over,” Lasch explained.
Head Coach Roger Rönnberg was also critical of his team’s play in the middle stanza as well as part of the third and Lasch echoed his concerns, saying, “I agree, like I said, I thought the second was bad.”
But the three-time CHL Champion was quick to praise his club’s effort in the third, declaring, “I thought we came back in the third and battled and we still had a lot of scoring chances, as well.”
"I think it’s a great challenge and something we could rise to."Frölunda Gothenburg's Ryan Lasch
A good third period effort was enough to give the hosts some life in the dying minutes of the game when Max Friberg secured his fifth of the season, but Lasch is all too aware that they still have three periods left to finish what they started.
“It’s going to come down to six periods and we have three more left and we have to go do our job up there,” he said.
Traveling north, Frölunda know what they’re up against as they’ve faced Luleå on a few occasions during the SHL season. This means they’re familiar with just how difficult the environment is to play in.
“They have a great fanbase and they’re usually pretty rowdy and have a good atmosphere,” the American noted.
Despite the difficulty in front of them, however, Lasch is confident his club has the means to earn the victory in Luleå, saying, “For us, we’ve done it before up there and won some big games, so for us I think it’s a great challenge and something we could rise to.”
Rising to the challenge is something Lasch has been doing his entire career as he's cemented himself as the all-time top scorer in CHL history and won a trio of CHL titles. But what about a fourth championship?
“I think we put ourselves in that position where we have a good opportunity, but you don’t want to look too far ahead. It’s going to be probably the toughest game of the season up there and we have to be ready.”
Frölunda will travel to northern Sweden for the Return Game of their Semi-Finals series with Luleå for a game scheduled for Tuesday, 17 January at 18:05 CET.