The Västerbotten team is halfway to its fifth Swedish Championship gold after two straight convincing home victories.
The next two matches are in Ängelholm where Rögle must move up several classes to compete for gold.
Rögle coach Dan Tangnes described his team after the first period, when they trailed 0–4, on TV4:
Our shoulders have been very high, and the stress level so high that we've been running around like crazy chickens.
“Hungry and ready”
To add further salt to the Rögle pain, a Malmö native opened the scoring.
Victor Stjernborg made it 1–0 after 1:49 and then 2–0 while short-handed after 4:10.
"We came out hungry and ready today. We made a good first substitution there and I got an open goal," says 22-year-old Stjernborg, who is chasing his third Swedish Championship gold after winning two with Växjö.
After 0–2, Tangnes took a timeout.
It didn't help much. After 6:35 Mikkel Aagaard made it 3–0 and Rögle changed goalkeepers, bringing in Arvid Holm and later Christoffer Rifalk.
Rifalk was unfortunate when Oliver Okuliar's shot deflected in off him for a 4–0 lead at the end of the first period.
Zaar taken off after hard hit
Rögle suffered a tough blow when playoff points leader Daniel Zaar had to leave the game after a hard hit from Oscar Lindberg in the first period. Key forward Linus Sandin was also missing for the second game in a row. Dennis Everberg was back in the game after an injury, but didn't look completely comfortable.
The Ängelholm team reduced the deficit in the second period through Josh Dickinson on the power play before young Valter Lindberg, 19, made it 5–1 with a shot off the crossbar in the final period.
"It was fun to score a goal. Not everyone gets to do that in a Swedish Championship final," says Lindberg.
He looks forward to the future:
"It's going to be fun, there's good pressure down there too, so we're excited for two new matches."
Facts: Swedish Championship final series
Match 1, 23/4: Skellefteå–Rögle 4–1.
Match 2, 25/4: Skellefteå–Rögle 5–1.
Match 3, 28/4: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Match 4, 30/4: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Possible match 5, 2/5: Skellefteå–Rögle (15.15).
Possible match 6, 4/5: Rögle–Skellefteå (7:00 p.m.).
Possible match 7, 6/5: Skellefteå–Rögle (7:00 p.m.).
