With the last shot of the regular season, Öberg took his Malmö to the eighth finals at Leksand's expense.
And what a club is waiting there – yes, Rögle.
We knew the starting position, that we had to win. It's a derby in the eighth finals, anything can happen, says Öberg to TV4 Play.
It goes fast in hockey and it swings quickly. The 52nd and last regular season round was not just played for the playoffs.
Timrå, Rögle, Örebro, Leksand, and Malmö were all involved in a refined streak drama.
Timrå sneaked past
The winners:
+ Timrå, who sneaked past Rögle and took the sixth and last guaranteed quarterfinal spot.
+ Malmö, who reached the eighth finals.
The Scanian derbies are not taken lightly by anyone in or around Rögle and Malmö. Tuesday evening's in Malmö was red-hot, where the rivalry was sharpened by Rögle having a quarterfinal spot at stake and Malmö having a lifeline into the playoffs.
The home team went onto the ice with a 3–0 record in head-to-head meetings this season. But old merits are nothing to lean on. Rögle's Anton Bengtsson broke the zero after 12.39 in the first period.
It's tight out there. We need to create a few more chances to turn this around, says Malmö's Christoffer Forsberg to TV4 Play after the goalless middle period.
The forcing came directly in the last – and the equalizer only took 2.08 minutes.
Lassi Thomson gave Malmö a glimpse of a spot in the eighth finals since Örebro was simultaneously trailing at home against Luleå. The same Thomson experienced a journey from hockey heaven to its hell.
Lost the puck
First, he lost the puck that Dennis Everberg scored for a new lead for Rögle, then he drew a penalty. Malmö cleared it, as well as a three-on-five situation when Christoffer Forsberg was also in the penalty box.
The rest was Linus Öberg's evening.
Leksand and Linköping can send their players on vacation. As teams 11 and 12 in the final table, the season is over.
Modo faces the bottom team HV71 in the negative qualifiers starting on Friday. The winner in the best-of-seven matches stays in the SHL, while the loser is relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan.
Both clubs rested several players in tonight's last regular season round.
Eighth finals: Malmö–Rögle, Örebro–Växjö.
Decided in best-of-three matches. Starts on Thursday.
Quarterfinals: Brynäs meets the lowest-ranked team from the eighth finals. Luleå meets the second-lowest-ranked team from the eighth finals. Frölunda–Timrå, Färjestad–Skellefteå.
Decided in best-of-seven matches. Starts on Thursday, March 20.
The semifinals start on April 4, the finals on April 19. Both series are decided in best-of-seven matches.
