It was a Rögle team that seemed ready for a fight before the fifth game in the semifinal series.
The match had only lasted nine seconds before Felix Nilsson delivered a heavy hit on Växjö's captain Joel Persson, who flew straight into Rögle's bench.
Nilsson simply followed what the team had agreed upon before the match.
“Fun to send him”
"We've talked about being physical from the start. It was fun to send him over the edge," Nilsson tells SVT.
Did the hit have the desired effect on the team's momentum? There was no doubt about that.
Rögle stepped on the gas and managed to make it both 1–0 and 2–0 before halfway through the first period.
A shock start for the home crowd, who had barely had time to settle down to watch the fifth semi-final.
Beautiful solo goal
And it looked like it could get worse. A few minutes later, Växjö drew a penalty and Rögle lined up for a power play.
There would be no extended lead to 3–0; instead came an unexpected, beautiful reduction.
Finn Eemeli Suomi got the puck in his own zone, looked for teammates but decided to make his own rush. The solo run ended with a distinctive finish behind Rögle goalie Arvid Holm and, suddenly, the home crowd's hopes of a finals appearance were revived.
The second period looked scoreless for a long time, but a goal would come. After a superb power play, Växjö veteran Dennis Rasmussen stepped up with less than two minutes left in the period and the game was tied.
Third final in six years
Rögle did not let that stop them and came out strong in the third period, putting pressure and creating plenty of chances. The opening goal also came from the away team; after a long video review it was judged that the puck was in the goal by the smallest possible margin from Fredrik Olofsson's stick. The final goal.
"Wonderful. It's crazy that we're already starting to think about the next one, but we're excited about the final. I was pretty sure, but it felt like I saw the whole puck over the line," says match hero Olofsson to TV4.
The Ängelholm team is now playing its third SM final since 2021 - the previous two have been lost. Skellefteå is the final opponent.
The first final match - in a best of seven - will be played in Skellefteå on Thursday, April 23.
