Skrevet af Malin McKay
Alle kampe kan ikke være perfekte, og hjemmepremieren for Ørnene endte ikke, som holdet havde håbet på. Efter to sejre i træk blev det til et nederlag i skuddueller — ikke ligefrem det, man havde forventet af holdet.
Herlev var uden tre faste mænd denne aften, da Victor Cubars, Isak Ask og Joseph Jonsson alle sad ude som raske udeladelser.
Kampen startede godt for Ørnene, der var foran 3-0 ved midtvejs i anden periode. Med aggressivt forecheck og god pucbehandling var det tydeligt, at arbejdet fra de to foregående kampe havde sat sig. Göransson åbnede scoringen med sæsonens første mål, assisteret af David Karlström og Noah Samsøe. Oliver True, der har været med i alle mål indtil videre denne preseason, scorede selv nummer to, assisteret af Ingemann Larsen og Marius Kring Andersen. Mulberg gjorde det til 3-0 — hans andet mål i to kampe efter scoringen mod Rødovre i sidste uge.
Udvisninger til Marius Kring Andersen (holding) og Oskar Just (slashing) viste dog, at det aggressive forecheck også har en bagside. Ingen af holdene fik udnyttet deres powerplay-chancer, og Sønderjyskes egne udvisninger for roughing og hooking kunne sagtens have været brugt bedre af Herlev. Marius Kring Andersen, der selv fik en af aftenens udvisninger, var ærlig om balancen, holdet stadig leder efter:
"Det er noget, vi snakker om — at acceptere, at man en gang imellem skal smide pukken dybt og forecheck-e. Vi var faktisk rimelig gode til det sidste år... Det er noget, vi er bevidste om, at vi skal gøre for at komme langt i ligaen." Det var Sønderjyskes første mål ved Lundgren (39:43), der for alvor vendte kampen. I tredje periode scorede Sønderjyske yderligere to gange på otte minutter — ved Schulze og Borring — og udlignede dermed helt. Angriber David Karlström havde svært ved at sætte ord på, hvad der gik galt: "Jeg synes, vi spillede godt, selvom resultatet ikke blev, som vi ville have det. Jeg synes faktisk, vores spil var bedre end de sidste
par kampe, så det var et godt skridt fremad... Jeg tror måske, vi slapper lidt af og mister flere pucke i angrebszonen. Det er en mærkelig kamp — jeg synes, vi spillede godt, så ja, det er bare en mærkelig kamp." Isak Göransson, der scorede kampens første mål, pegede på træthed som en del af forklaringen:
"Vi vil jo altid gerne vinde, og så har man dårlige perioder i kampe engang imellem. Vi skal gøre det bedre til næste kamp — være konsekvente hele vejen igennem tre perioder." Kampen fortsatte målløs i overtid, hvor Sønderjyskes Johan Lundgren fik en sen udvisning for hooking, inden overtiden var slut. I skuddueller blev det Gabriel Bouramma, der afgjorde det for gæsterne, og dermed røg Herlev til deres første nederlag i preseasonen — 4-3.
Sportschef Guillaume Doucet var hurtig til at sætte resultatet i perspektiv efter kampen:
"Vi er ikke så optagede af, hvordan kampen endte resultatmæssigt lige nu. Vi ville gerne se, at drengene arbejdede hårdt og
gjorde de ting, vi har trænet." Powerplayet tegner sig dog som et voksende fokuspunkt. Isak Göransson fortalte, at "vi har faktisk ikke trænet powerplay en eneste gang endnu, så det kommer nok, jo mere vi træner det," mens Doucet selv medgav, at "vi er lidt for finurlige i øjeblikket... vi skal simpelthen bare være mere direkte." Det efterlader et rimeligt spørgsmål op til næste kamp: Var tredje periode i aften en enlig svale — eller et tegn på revner i isen for dette Herlev-hold?
English
All games can't be perfect, and the first home game for this Eagles team left the audience with a quiet exit. After a two-game win streak, a loss in a shootout was not exactly what the team would've expected. Herlev were missing three regulars for the night, with Victor Cubars, Isak Ask, and Joseph Jonsson all held out as healthy scratches.
The game started strongly, with Herlev up 3-0 by the midpoint of the second period. Starting with an aggressive forecheck and well-placed puck handling, the work from the previous two games shone through. Göransson opened the scoring with his first goal of the preseason, assisted by David Karlström and Noah Samsøe, adding to the atmosphere in the arena. Oliver True extended his run of factoring into every game so far, scoring the second goal himself, assisted by Ingemann Larsen and Marius Kring Andersen. Mulberg then made it 3-0, his second goal in as many games after finding the net against Rødovre last week.However, penalties for holding (Marius Kring Andersen) and slashing (Oskar Just) served as proof that an aggressive forecheck can become too much of a good thing. While there were no goals from either team on the power play, Sønderjyske's own
penalties for roughing and hooking could have been opportune moments for Herlev to prove their skill on special teams. Marius Kring Andersen, who took one of the night's penalties himself, was candid about the balance the team is still working to strike: "It's something we talk about — accepting that sometimes you have to dump the puck deep and forecheck. We were pretty good at that last year... it's something we're conscious needs to happen to go far in this league." It was Sønderjyske's first goal — Lundgren at 39:43 — that marked the beginning of the slow decline for the Eagles. The third period brought two more Sønderjyske goals in the space of eight minutes, from Schulze and Borring, completely erasing Herlev's lead. Forward David Karlström admitted the shift was hard to pin down: "I think we played good, even though the result wasn't how we wanted. I think our game was better than the last couple games, so I think it was a good step... I think maybe we start to relax a little bit, lose more pucks in the offensive zone. It's a weird game — I think we played good, so yeah, it's a weird game." Isak Göransson, who opened the scoring, pointed to fatigue as part of the story:
"We always want to win, and then you have bad periods in games. We have to do better next game — being consistent over three
periods." The game went to overtime scoreless, with Sønderjyske's Johan Lundgren picking up a late hooking penalty before time ran out. In the shootout, Gabriel Bouramma settled it for the visitors, sending Herlev to their first loss of the preseason, 4-3. For his part, GM Guillaume Doucet was quick to keep the result in perspective:
"We're not really bothered about how the game went in terms of score right now. We wanted to see guys work hard and do the things we worked on in practice."
Still, with the power play a growing point of focus — Isak Göransson noting "we haven't practiced the power play once in training yet, so it'll come more as we work on it," and Doucet himself admitting "we're a bit fancy at the moment... we just need to be a little bit more direct," — the result raises a fair question heading into the next game: was tonight's third period a one-off, or a peek into the cracks in the ice for this Herlev team?