A rare dud from the Euro prospects, Magnus Nygren claims the title of Player of the week with three assists in three games.
Joonas Nättinen, JYP
After recent struggles, JYP won three of their four contests, with Nättinen grabbing two assists over that span. He is not a player who dazzles with his skill, but he does control the game very well. I managed to grab his primary assist while watching the game, so we finally have some moving pictures of Nättinen.
Lukas Vejdemo, Djurgården
Djurgården played two games against Malmö this weekend, winning both by scores of 3-0 and 5-2, but for Vejdemo it was a slow week, with no points and just two shots on goals. Despite the lack of offence, he emerged with an even goal differential, which points to the type of player he is: safe, secure, and playing on the right side of the puck. He averaged 11:40 TOI over the three games.
Magnus Nygren, Färjestad
Färjestad had a tough period directly after Christmas and New Year’s, but seem to have picked up their game lately, perhaps partially due to the fact that Ottawa Senators prospect Mikael Wikstrand has made a return to the club.
Playing with the poise he showed before he left for North America, it seems that Nygren has gotten his groove back. Captain Cool didn’t release his patented slap shot to score his points, instead using his vision to provide three assists. He currently sits third among defenders in SHL scoring.
Artturi Lehkonen, Frölunda
Frölunda got their first win versus a Brynäs club that had their number all season, then played games versus Linköping and HV71 that Lehkonen’s team will want to forget, losing by a combined 7-0 score.
The team’s struggles that I mentioned in last week’s report have now extended to a slump, with no goals in their last seven periods now. While Lehkonen continues to put in the hard work he has all season, he wasn’t rewarded with any points in his last three outings.
Martin Réway, Fribourg-Gottéron
In Friday’s game, a 7-4 thrashing on the road versus Lugano, Réway had a minus-three rating with no shots on goal.
On Saturday, Réway took a deliberate head shot from Zug‘s Johann Morant, who got his hand and stick into the face of Réway. Morant was sent off for “checking to the head” (a two-minute minor with an automatic 10-minute misconduct) and Réway didn’t play any more of the game.
When I contacted Fribourg-Gottéron for a comment, they said “it’s almost certain he won’t play versus Zurich [Tuesday night] and we cannot comment further on his injuries.” (Thanks to Fribourg-Gottéron for the fast reply.)
Before the hit, Réway had a goal and an assist.
Bouma (@Boumatoews) kindly supplied the image of the hit in question, and you can see the height of the glove and stick just prior to contact.
