The Canadian was involved in all three goals in the turnaround. D´Astous reduced to 2–3 with 9.03 minutes left. He played forward to Jack Kopacka's equalizing goal (3–3) with 4.50 minutes left of regular time and was behind the setup for Bobby Trivigno's winning goal with 1.03 minutes left of overtime.
It felt great inside! But it's also my job. I'm a two-way player and am most happy that I could help the team win – in the end.
The victory was at least hard-won in a match that contained all sorts of unexpected events.
HV coach Anton Blomqvist summarized the at least dramatic event: "On the verge of unreal".
Two match penalties
The Jönköping team led 2–1 after the first period, where Brynäs had most of the play but HV71 stood for efficiency.
In the beginning of the second, HV forward Herman Träff received a match penalty for a head tackle. Shortly after, match penalty number two came when John Nyberg had to leave after a poorly timed tackle from behind.
Add to that several more penalties and disadvantages for the guests, which gave Brynäs several golden opportunities to turn the match around before the third period.
But with 7.7 seconds left of the middle period, André Petersson instead increased for HV71 in power play.
It felt sick. We had tons of power plays and five-on-three play. How often do you get that? There, we must be better and have a higher tempo. But we showed character, turned it around, and took two heavy points, says D´Astous.
Strong self-confidence
The late turnaround and successful start after returning to SHL is explained by strong self-confidence in the group.
We were frustrated before the third but knew we were good. We have how many NHL matches as possible in this locker room. We didn't stress, didn't panic, but knew that if we just kept going, it would turn around.
It sounds like a nice feeling to have?
Yes, it's a security. Playing with a guy like (Jakob) Silfverberg gives you confidence just through his way of being. Then we have NHL merits in players like Oscar Lindblom, Victor Söderström, and now also Christian Djoos. We trigger each other and build each other as a group.
For HV71, the next opponent is and has so far only one win in seven away matches.
