"Herman, Herman, Herman" the home crowd chanted and Liv smiled from ear to ear after saving 31 of 34 shots.
It feels fun, something you've dreamed of, he tells TV4 Play.
It was a special and emotional evening in Jönköping when the homegrown son got to make his SHL debut in the HV jersey and follow in his father Stefan Liv's footsteps.
Stefan Liv won three Swedish Championship gold medals with HV71 and won both Olympic and World Championship gold medals with Tre Kronor before he was killed in 2011, at the age of 30, in a plane crash with his Russian KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
Herman Liv, who was five years old at the time, has a picture of his father on his helmet.
Sweaty debut
The 20-year-old, who won gold with Sweden at the Junior World Championships last season, had a tough debut.
Reigning champions Skellefteå added more shots - 18 in the first period alone - and scored first with a power play.
It meant 1-1 through Jonathan Johnson after HV71 started with a lightning-fast goal after 1.36 through Jonathan Ang.
Rickard Hugg also made it 2-1 for the visitors before the first period was over.
We were pushed back in the first period, then I think we had two great periods, says Liv.
"Happiness"
Riley Woods tied the score at 2-2, Skellefteå regained the lead, but Jan Mysak forced overtime in the third period and Nikola Pasic scored the winning goal after 1:16 of overtime.
I just feel happy, it feels really good to win. I took it as a normal match, I've been playing since I was five, just going out and enjoying it a little extra in front of the fans, says Liv.
The victory was HV's first of the season.
