After his last game, where he scored his first goal of the season when it bounced off his leg, Carl Grundström has found his groove.
He struggled in the first nine games of the season, but instead of cutting his time, the team moved him up the lineup and put him on the wing with experienced centre Johan Sundström, the MVP of last year’s playoffs.
While the move was partly forced by circumstances, it paid of big today. The coach actually smiled behind the bench.
His first goal came at the very end of a dull first period that seemed to be going nowhere slowly.
Believe it or not, this snipe was the least-pretty goal of Carl Grundstrom's first hat trick today. https://t.co/tVmyzy3A3M
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) October 20, 2016
Grundström’s second and third goals came in the second period, interspersed with a nasty stick to the face.
Here's Grundstrom's second goal of the game, after he hunts the puck down three times. pic.twitter.com/vMRRp4KNAS
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) October 20, 2016
That second goal was assisted by Filip Westerlund, a 17-year-old defender who notched his first ever SHL point on the play. He is draft eligible this summer, and if he sticks with the top team (this was his ninth game), he might steal some scouting attention from Kristian Vesalainen.
Grundstrom completes the hat trick with a power move to the net and some slick handling. https://t.co/d5w7G3ImLq
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) October 20, 2016
Frölunda went on to win the game 5-1, and they are now in second place in the league, right where they finished last year.
Grundström has four points in 11 games, all goals, and he is now eighth on the team in points, one behind Vesalainen.
