SHL Playoffs: Orebro and Malmo hit back to take Eighth-finals to final game

[p]Beaten 6-2 at home in their opening game two nights earlier, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/orebro/Y3RLgQQn/"]Orebro[/a] - who finished 10th in the regular season - were expected to bow out with little more than a "thanks for coming" against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lulea/0QhOwF1e/"]Lulea[/a], only to beat the reigning champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/lulea-0QhOwF1e/orebro-Y3RLgQQn/?mid=65SU5NvJ"]3-1[/a] on the long trip north.[/p][p]After a goalless opening period, the tension was clearly getting to the favourites, who were guilty of committing a handful of penalties, and after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/laaksonen-oskari/EyuZPdSS/"]Oskari Laaksonen[/a] was called for tripping with five minutes left in period two,[b] Orebro finally capitalised with a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kossila-kalle/GzteoiMq/"]Kalle Kossila[/a] strike on the resulting powerplay.[/b][/p][p]Tensions began to boil over at the 40-minute mark as both sides had a player penalised for roughing, and [b]it was Lulea who channeled that energy better at the start of the final period, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/levtchi-anton/dvVa6x9C/"]Anton Levtchi[/a] drew them level with less than two minutes played.[/b][/p][p]But five minutes later, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/miketinac-kalle/SpKuPUL2/"]Kalle Miketinac[/a] took centre stage to save Orebro's season - [b]he put the visitors ahead again, before sealing victory with less than eight minutes to play and forcing a deciding match at Coop Norrbotten Arena on Saturday 21st March.[/b][/p][embed guid="d02f338e-1e93-45a9-9218-debc3b4a9e4c" url="https://x.com/SHLse/status/2034723800449696001" social-type="twitter" /][p]That evening will see another all-or-nothing encounter, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/malmo/pO1SCzgR/"]Malmo[/a] put their 3-2 defeat in the first game behind them, beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/djurgarden/Q7UY6Hrs/"]Djurgarden[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/djurgarden-Q7UY6Hrs/malmo-pO1SCzgR/?mid=SfRE95uf"]2-1[/a] on home ice.[/p][p][b]It took only two-and-a-half minutes for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bjorkman-filip/b7IINmYa/"]Filip Bjorkman[/a] to put the Redhawks ahead with the first shot on goal[/b] and things seemed to get better midway through the first period when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/handemark-fredrik/8WP5IyGI/"]Fredrik Handemark[/a] found the net, only for the goal to be chalked off following a video review.[/p][p]Things got a little heated at the end of the first period, with two players per side punished for fighting, and the tension only grew during a goalless second period.[/p][p][b]Djurgarden looked to have punished their hosts for not killing the game off when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/josefson-jacob/KEksCZZD/"]Jacob Josefson[/a] struck with 11 minutes to play, but as the minutes ticked down, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/von-barnekow-lofberg-william/zsDbdfBB/"]William von Barnekow-Lofberg[/a] stepped up to add a goal to the assist he notched earlier, winning the game for the home side.[/b][/p][embed guid="ddb560e7-da55-4da2-8676-ff6dc83702a3" url="https://x.com/SHLse/status/2034695636516209131" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/sweden/shl/"]Follow the SHL playoffs on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]