The season has not turned out at all as the top-tipped HV71 had intended.
Instead of being at the top and fighting for the Swedish Championship gold, the team has been at the bottom of the table throughout the season.
Tonight it meets Leksand at home and victory is a must.
- First and foremost, we have to play with the puck and dare to do things out there even in the situation we are in. Sometimes it feels like we fit in too much, we need to send in pucks and score shit goals, says forward Filip Sandberg.
May be forced to qualify
HV71 is currently in 14th place and to avoid qualifiers they must end up in 12th place.
Right now, Oskarshamn is in that place with nine points more, but they have played two games more than HV71.
For HV to succeed, they must win the remaining four matches, including the match tonight.
- It is clear that we are aware of what situation we are in. We will hunt for three points without playing cowardice, we will go for it and we will show that tonight, he says.
A team from the SHL leaves
This year, it is a new approach for the two teams that come last.
Teams 13 and 14 meet in a qualifying series in the best of seven matches, where the winner stays in the SHL and the loser goes down to the hockey allsvenskan.
As it looks now, it is likely that HV71 will qualify.
- It is clear that there is a chance that this will happen.
But it is important to build a positive feeling and we have four games left here to find a good feeling and find a good game that we can build on no matter where it lands, says Filip Sandberg.