Rögle BK beat Växjö Lakers 4-1 in game four of the SHL playoff semifinals at home in Ängelholm—their first home win in the series—taking a 3-1 lead. Three quick goals in the first period set the tone after Växjö goaltender Adam Åhman was injured just 32 seconds in. Rögle can clinch a finals spot Thursday in Växjö, while coach Björn Hellkvist vowed to push to a seventh game.
Rögle BK defeated Växjö Lakers 4-1 in game four of the SHL semifinal series, securing their first home win in Ängelholm and a commanding 3-1 series lead. They host game five? No, next is away Thursday to close it out.
Växjö's Adam Åhman, with an 89.5% playoff save percentage, left after 32 seconds due to an apparent left knee injury with no contact, described by TV4's Petter Rönnqvist as 'something jumps in the left knee' and Sanny Lindström as not looking good. Backup Ludvig Persson faced immediate pressure, making a breakaway pad save but conceding three goals in 76 seconds: Felix Nilsson (1-0, power play), Karson Kuhlman (2-0 post-faceoff), and Linus Sandin (3-0).
Hellkvist noted, 'It goes so incredibly fast between their goals. Not really what we needed.' In the second period, Paul LaDue's goal was disallowed on review, but Mattias Göransson made it 4-0 at 7:54. Frustration boiled over with a fight between Rögle's Dennis Rasmussen and Växjö's Anton Bengtsson, earning both match penalties amid 64 total penalty minutes.
Växjö pulled one back on Reid Gardiner's power-play goal with 5:48 left in the third but couldn't mount a comeback. Rögle's Fredrik Olofsson said, 'We do it really well, playing our hockey at home is fun.' Hellkvist added, 'We create more goal opportunities than before, we need to keep that up,' but had no update on Åhman's condition, declaring his team would force a game seven.
