For Detroit defender Albert Johansson, 23 years old, trained in Färjestad, it meant the first point at all in the NHL.
Detroit was behind by a goal with more than half of the third period gone when Johansson assisted Dylan Larkin to 2–2. He shot a slapshot to Larkin, who missed, but the puck came back to Larkin, via another teammate, and he took the second chance.
It may not have been the prettiest, but it was nice to get an assist, says Johansson, who has played in the farm league for Grand Rapids for two seasons but has gotten the chance in Detroit this year and played eleven matches so far.
Then Lucas Raymond scored the third goal for Detroit, a deflection on a shot – or a pass intended to be deflected in – by defender Simon Edvinsson. But the fun wasn't over for Edvinsson. With three seconds left of the match, when Islanders tried to equalize, he scored 4–2 for Detroit into an empty net.
In San Jose's 7–2 win over Los Angeles, there were also several Swedes in decisive roles.
Halfway through the match, it looked good for Los Angeles, who led 2–1 after Adrian Kempe had assisted on both goals. But San Jose turned it around and delivered a real outburst in the final period, which ended 5–0 to the home team. Fabian Zetterlund, Timothy Liljegren, and Alexander Wennberg each scored a goal for San Jose.
