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Meeting of teams with offensive shortcomings

Ricoh beat Lund last round lead by Forsberg's 23 saves and are now looking to win the first out of three consecutive home games using the same tactics

Malmo finally won after three unsuccessful rounds. They beat Savenhof by five goals to get back in the coveted 8 position, the last one that will see you advance to play-off.

- That win was more necessary mentally than points-wise - Mansson, who scored 6 goals said. He also played a very important defense role. 

- We really played great, we finally managed to take advantage of our good wings and that will be crucial in the games to come now that we can't count on back players - he added.

An extra back player they should be able to count on today is Bozo Andelic, who joined a few weeks ago but haven't gotten a chance yet. The young Montenegrin will clearly need more time with the team to earn the trust at Malmo. His compatriot goal keeper Simic played a much bigger role.

- Simic loves the games he knows are a chance to step up. He never fails against such interesting and demanding opponents - Mansson said.

Today's match is important for the home team and another good performance by Simic is therefore expected. Malmo face Ricoh, who are only two points up after being Lund. A win for Malmo home can be a great threat for the play off spot.

- There are still a lot of games to come, but I think we're good enough to make it in the play-off. We belong there, that's for sure. We did great in defense today and I feel good after such a match - coach Sivertsson said.

New away game will be a match won't be a success if Sivertsson's team don't play brilliant defense. On the other hand, Ricoh build everything around the good defense, as their results reflect. Not even Lund's fast pace was enough to get the game at over 50 goals last round, mostly because Forsberg recorded amazing 23 saves.

- Forsberg and defense will be our driving force today. The performance with Lund was what we want our game to look like at all times - it's very clear that is what we need to do to be successful - coach Linnell said and added.

- We play another good defense team, meaning we need to be even more cautious in offense and stick to the plan. This is the first out of three consecutive games and we plan to win as many points as we can the next few rounds.

The opponent aren't too demanding, that's a fact. Drot and Savenhof who are both in the middle of reorganizing their respectful teams are next to come, and Malmo is therefore probably the trickiest of the next three opponents for Ricoh. The home team therefore gave their fans a good time to make up for the defeat to Kristianstad. Malmo seem like a more appropriate opponent for a good outcome since they don't have fierceness now that back player Lonn is not available. Lineman Pecikoza will be their solution in most attacks but Ricoh have less than a merciful defense and will make their job very tough.

Malmo's pace has gotten much slower since they lost three important players a few rounds ago. I didn't go with any bets because of the opponents they were meeting the last five rounds - they were all teams with fast pace and their game with Malmo ended at 50, 46, 38, 45 and 47 goals. Only one of them went over this margin - the game with Drott, who play such a fast-pace game that no team in Elitserien can keep up. Malmo now meet a completely different opponent. Ricoh are completely focused on defending since their offense isn't doing very well. They ended at 27 goals last round as they met Lund and recorded only one shot off target. That was an attacking perfection for Ricoh they will probably not be able to repeat today. Malmo are very good in defense, and given the slow pace both teams play in, I expect an extremely unproductive game. I wonder if the 40-goal margin will be too high, with the 45-margin seeming sky-high.