Malmo takes 2-0 series lead

[scoop 3,426]

The Malmo Nighthawks are not the team they were last season. A year ago, they led the regular season in goals with 314. This year, although most of the crew returned, they had 252. This put them in a tie for 8th. The team still finished second in the conference on the strength of their defensive efforts. They allowed the second-fewest goals in the league and boasted the best penalty kill unit. That defense of theirs has come into play early in there conference semi-final series against the Warsaw Predators.

 

Game 1 started strong with two goals within the first ten minutes from a somewhat unlikely source in Jakob Sosa. Warsaw was able to tie the game up, but Malmo added another two in the third period to win it 4-2. The Nighthawks outshot the Predators 48 to 24 in the game. Game 2 saw another surprise leader for the Malmo offense, as Druss Deathwalker scored the first two goals for the Nighthawks before regular season leader Brendan Telker notched his first of the post-season. The Predators managed just one goal on 27 shots.

 

Through two games, Malmo has 7 goals in the series, with Gunnar Odinsson and Telker each only scoring once and Muffbeav having zero. This is in stark contrast to the regular season, when these three combined for 122 goals, or 48.4% of the Nighthawks' total. If their secondary and tertiary scorers can remain locked in when the leading trio inevitably get going, the Nighthawks could potentially make a deep run in the playoffs. Still, just two games against Warsaw is nothing to get too excited about, but it is definitely a promising start.

[Laine 1,361]

Review: Wow. This is a really well written article. It's great at recapping both games without being overly detailed or too vague (for a .com article). I love the perspective you take based on stats. Over all, great article! 9.5/10