Three Crowns crushed Slovakia with 5–0 (3–0, 1–0, 1–0) and redeemed a predominantly blue-yellow audience.
An incredibly nice feeling to make a goal on home ground. It's hard to describe, says the Calgary professional about the full hit 11.17 into the first period.
The first ten minutes were characterized not so little by bouncing pucks and mistakes. Slovakia was several times close to breaking Jacob Markström's zero. Then the 36-year-old finally stepped into action. With a sharp shot, he pushed Emil Heineman's pass up into the net.
The joy and relief were palpable. The leading goal came at just the right time.
Great pass by Heineman and good foreplay by Elias (Lindholm) too. It was a bit nervous before that, says Backlund.
"Something to build on"
He was pleased with what he and Heineman and Lindholm delivered over 60 effective minutes.
I and Elias have played much boxplay together in Calgary and Heineman did well. We tried to get to know each other during the match. It was good back and forth and something to build on.
It was a bit tense before the premiere, hard to sleep in the middle of the day. I tried to think about something else, but when it came to the match, a lot of feelings came up.
They were not alleviated by the fact that Tim Bergling was honored in the arena bearing his artist name – Avicii before the match.
You heard the music in the locker room. It was tragic when he passed away. I've seen the documentary and read the book. I cry every time. I'm really a fan of Avicii, says Mikael Backlund.
Last winter, he was seen by many as a player who should have been included in the national team coach Sam Hallam's squad in the Four Nations in Canada and the USA.
But Backlund was rejected.
Near medal guarantee
The blow took. When Calgary missed the Cup playoffs, the opportunity to play a sixth World Championship – and his first on home ground – opened up.
It's near medal guarantee when the center wants and can connect to Three Crowns and World Championship play. A gold, a silver, and two bronzes have he collected so far. Only once has the 36-year-old left a championship without a piece of metal hanging in a string around his neck.
Already on Saturday afternoon, the next World Championship match awaits, against Austria.
