Andreas Johnsson scored the decisive goal in the seventh period. In total, the match lasted 122 minutes and 18 seconds. The previous record was 119 minutes and 16 seconds when Leksand met Färjestad in 1997.
"Incredibly nice. It felt a bit like it would never be decisive. Great. We played well," Johnsson said on TV4, according to Aftonbladet.
“Is there pizza?”
The long evening thus meant double matches for the players - who needed to think about replenishing their energy reserves.
"There's everything you could want. There's pizza, but to be honest, you're not really that keen on that. It's more energy drinks and stuff," Skellefteå's Pär Lindholm told TV4 Play after the sixth period.
Last year's SM gold medal winner Luleå has a habit of sudden-death thrillers in these playoffs. The Norrbotten team won three overtimes in the SM quarterfinal series against Frölunda. Anton Levtchi decided the first one - Mathias Bromé the other two.
Bromé's decisive goal in the fourth quarter-final came after 117 minutes and 29 seconds of ice hockey and was then the second-longest match in the history of the Swedish Championship playoffs.
Now both that and the previous 1997 record have been surpassed.
Lost control
Already in regulation time, Skellefteå was on its way to victory. Just 18 seconds into the third period, the home team led 3–1 after Oscar Lindberg's shot hit the crossbar and went in behind Matteus Ward in the Luleå net.
It wasn't decided, however. A fortunate deflection off an opponent's skate allowed Oscar Engsund to cut the lead, and just over halfway through the third period Luleå defenseman Frederic Allard tied the score at 3–3 on the power play.
That goal took the match to a record-long extra time before Skellefteå's decisive goal.
Top five longest ice hockey games in the men's Swedish Championship playoffs:
Skellefteå–Luleå – 122 minutes and 18 seconds (2026)
Leksand–Färjestad – 119 minutes and 16 seconds (1997)
Luleå–Frölunda – 117 minutes and 29 seconds (2026)
Färjestad–HV71 – 117 minutes and 1 second (2019)
Linköping–Skellefteå – 116 minutes and 23 seconds (2024)
Source: TV4
